C.P.E. Bach: Double concerto

Marco Scolastra pianoforte

Fabio Ciofini harpsichord

Senzaspine Orchestra 

Matteo Parmeggiani director

J.S. BACH (1685-1750) Concerto in D minor BWV 1059a for harpsichord and strings

Allegro, Adagio, Presto

J.C. BACH (1735-1782) Concerto in F minor W C73 for piano and strings

Allegro di molto, Andante, Prestissimo

C.P.E. BACH (1714-1788) Double concerto in E-flat major Wq 47 for harpsichord, piano and orchestra

Allegro di molto, Larghetto, Presto

Marco Scolastra

He completed his music education at the Conservatory of Perugia, graduating with honours under Maestro Franco Fabiani. He then studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Ennio Pastorino, and attended postgraduate courses with Lya De Barberiis, Paul Badura-Skoda and - at the Chigiana Musical Academywith Joaquin Achúcarro and Katia Labèque. He has played for major musical institutions: Valli Theatre, Reggio Emilia, Umbria Music Festival, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, IUC (University Concert Institution), Eliseo Theatre, Oratorio del Gonfalone, Auditorium Parco della Musica e Teatro dell’Opera, Rome, Teatro Regio, Parma, “G. Verdi”Orchestra Auditorium in Milan, Teatro Comunale, Bologna, Spoleto Festival, Ravello Festival, Teatro La Fenice, Venice, “I concerti del Quirinale”broadcast live on RAI Radio3, San Carlo Theatre and “A. Scarlatti” Association, Naples, “B. Barattelli” Association, L’Aquila, Vatican Museums, Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Musical Evenings Milan, “Rossini Museum”, Pesaro, “P. I. Tchaikovsky” Conservatory, Moscow, Tonhalle, Zurich, Berne Konzerthaus, “F. Chopin” Institute, Warsaw, Orchestre National du Capitole, Toulouse, Van Vlaanderen Festival in Belgium, European Parliament, Brussels, Musikverein,Vienna. As a soloist he has performed with important directors: Yuri Bashmet, Andrew Constantine, Romano Gandolfi, Howard Griffits, Richard Hickox, Claudio Scimone, Lior Shambadal, Luigi Piovano and Giedrė Šlekytė. For many years he played in a piano duet with Sebastiano Brusco. He has worked with great artists, including Vadim Brodski, Renato Bruson, Alessandro Carbonare, Max René Cosotti, Roberto Fabbriciani, Cinzia Forte, Fejes Quartet, Corrado Giuffredi, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Daniela Mazzucato, San Carlo Theatre String Quartet, Kodály Quartet, Desirée Rancatore, and Charlie Siem. Intensa la collaborazione con il drammaturgo Sandro Cappelletto del quale ha partecipato più volte al programma Inventare il tempo on air on RAI5.

He has performed on stage with illustrious actors: Sonia Bergamasco, Arnoldo Foà, Elio Pandolfi (long partnership lasting more than fifteen years), Ugo Pagliai, Lucia Poli, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, and Pamela Villoresi. Profoundly passionate about twentieth century and contemporary music, he has premièred many works, or been the first to execute them in Italy, some of which dedicated to him: Concerto for two pianos and percussion by Darius Milhaud (2004); Concerto della demenza by Vieri Tosatti (Spoleto Festival 2005); Dance Variations for two pianos and orchestra by Morton Gould (2005); Verdi versus Wagner by Matteo D’Amico (2013); Tirol Concerto by Philipp Glass (2017); Concert aria by Silvia Colasanti (2019); Quattro canti popolari ciociari by Marcello Panni (2020); Il tempo non esiste by Lucio Gregoretti (2023); Rhapsody by Giovanni Guaccero (2023). He has recorded for Phoenix Classics, Stradivarius, Brilliant Classics, Decca, Urania Records, and Rai5. The line up for 2024 - to name but a few events - includes his début at Carnegie Hall, New York and “I Concerti al Quirinale” broadcast live on RaiRadio3.

Fabio Ciofini

Fabio Ciofini studied organ, piano and fortepiano at the Perugia Conservatory, with W. Van de Pol, M.F. Spaventi and C. Veneri respectively, and harpsichord at the Fiesole School of Music with A. Fedi. He continued to study the organ in Amsterdam with J. Van Oortmerssen, obtaining a “Post-Graduate” diploma in baroque music in 1999. In 1995 he was appointed Head Organist at the Collegiata di S. Maria Maggiore Church in Collescipoli on the W. Hermans baroque organ (1678). He regularly holds concerts and Masterclasses in Italy, Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan, and is often a guest at major ancient music festivals (Lufthansa Festival, Oude Muziek - Utrecht, Vantaa Baroque Festival, Javea, Spain - International Baroque Music Festival, California State University of Chico, Arizona State University of Phoenix and Washington State University of Seattle - organ master classes, Oundle International Festival, England - organ master classes, The Conservatories of Pamplona, Banska Bystrika etc.) He has recorded and performed on live radio for the most important national European stations (BBC, ZDF, YLE, RAI etc.). He has performed highly acclaimed interpretations of ancient and baroque music. Fabio Ciofini is also an active director and conductor. He has recorded for “Bottega Discantica” - Milan, Loft Recordings - Seattle, Brilliant classics (Amsterdam, NL) and Glossa (Madrid). As Director of the Hermans Academy he has worked with the greatest soloists: the violinist Enrico Gatti, the soprano Roberta Invernizzi, the fortepianist Bart Van Oort (with whom he recorded the concerts KV 466 and 467 by W.A. Mozart for piano and orchestra, rated “exceptional” by critics - 5 stars, Musica magazine), etc. His latest record of opera 4 by Corelli, recorded with the Aurora Ensemble (Glossa) won the “Diapason d’or” and “deutschen schallplattenkritik”. He teaches at the “F.A. Bonporti” Conservatory in Trento. In 2010 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation (Solomeo, Perugia).

Matteo Parmeggiani

From Bologna, born in 1988, he obtained his diploma in Composition and Orchestral Conducting at the “G.B. Martini” Conservatory, Bologna with Gianpaolo Luppi and Luciano Acocella, with whom he specialised at the Chigiana Musical Academy under Maestro Daniele Gatti, who appointed him to direct the final concert of the masterclass at the Rozzi Theatre, also winning him a recommendation for the Sanremo Symphonic Orchestra. Founder of Orchestra Senzaspine, he works with important national and international orchestras and theatres. He has worked with illustrious soloists, including Enrico Dindo, Laura Marzadori, Bruno Philippe, Sofya Gulyak, Jonathan Roozeman, and Cinzia Forte. He also works at prestigious international festivals: Bologna Festival, Stresa Festival, Anima Mundi Festival, Amiata Piano Festival, New Generation Festival, Micat in Vertice Festival, Siena, Paganini Guitar Festival. His début at the prestigious Arena di Verona in 2019 is particularly worthy of mention. In 2019 as Orchestra Conductor he was called for the broadcast “Prodigi”, in prime time on RAI1. This occasion gave rise to a close partnership with Maestro Vessicchio. Since 2019 he has been a permanent summer course staff member of the Chigiana Academy in Orchestral Conducting, held by maestro Daniele Gatti and Luciano Acocella, who selected him as their assistant for the course. In 2021 he became professor of orchestral conducting for the Applied Music course at the G.B. Martini Conservatory, Bologna. In summer 2022 he conducted the Toscanini Philharmonic in a prestigious concert in Piazza del Campo, Sienna. Since 2022 he has been working with the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation, with whom he made his début in Rigoletto, Trovatore and Traviata (the latter scheduled for 2024), in theatres including the Duse, Bologna, Teatro Comunale, Modena, to name but a few. Recently he directed two concerts of “Peter and the Wolf ” by S. Prokofiev at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with the Maggio Musicale Orchestra, both a major success.