EMANUELE ARCIULI

“Though not an American, Emanuele Arciuli commands the biggest, most varied American repertoire of any pianist I know, probably of any pianist ever known.”
— Joseph Horowitz

A truly special evening bringing together two seemingly distant worlds, united by the shared theme of variation. EMANUELE ARCIULI, a refined pianist and one of the foremost authorities on contemporary American repertoire, opens the programme with Haydn’s Andante with Variations, a paradigmatic example of Classical elegance and formal balance. The concert continues with Frederic Rzewski’s monumental cycle The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, a set of 36 variations on the Chilean resistance anthem El pueblo unido jamás será vencido. A powerful synthesis of politics, virtuosity and poetic imagination, the work transforms a popular song into an expansive and compelling musical journey. With a repertoire ranging from Bach to the music of our own time, Emanuele Arciuli is a regular guest of leading festivals, orchestras and musical institutions worldwide. His appearances include engagements with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Leipzig, Bruckner Orchester Linz, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as well as major Italian concert societies and festivals such as Amici della Musica di Firenze, Unione Musicale di Torino, IUC Rome, Bologna Festival, the Venice Biennale, MITO, Wien Modern, Berliner Festwochen and REDCAT Los Angeles. He has collaborated with conductors including Roberto Abbado, John Axelrod, Andrey Boreyko, Dennis Russell Davies, Diego Fasolis, Wayne Marshall, James MacMillan, Pinchas Steinberg and Juraj Valčuha, and regularly performs in projects with actress Sonia Bergamasco. Widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of 20th- and 21st-century music—particularly American repertoire—Arciuli has had more than fifty works written expressly for him by composers such as George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, Frederic Rzewski, Michael Nyman, Michael Daugherty and John Luther Adams. His recordings appear on labels including Naxos, Stradivarius, Wergo, Albany, Innova and Chandos. Many of his discographic projects are devoted to American composers, including The Time Curve Preludes by Duckworth, ’Round Midnight – Homage to Thelonious Monk, and Walk in Beauty, which received a Grammy Award nomination, following an earlier nomination for his recording devoted to Crumb. Arciuli is also the author of several books, including Piano Music in the United States, The Beauty of New Music, and the recent Journey to America. In 2011, he was awarded the “Franco Abbiati” Prize as Best Soloist of the Year. Since September 2023, he has been a full member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He currently holds the chair of Piano at the Conservatory of Bari, teaches at the Accademia di Pinerolo, and is a visiting professor at numerous universities in the United States.