Francesco Lotoro (born 1964) is an Italian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and musicologist.

Early career

After graduating in piano at the

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

Conservatory of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Francesco Lotoro continued his piano studies with Kornél Zempléni and László Almásy at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, and became a piano player studying also with Viktor Merzhanov,

Tamás Vásáry Tamás Vásáry (; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor. Biography and career Vásáry was born in Debrecen, Hungary, and made his stage debut at the age of 8, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major, K.107 ...

and Aldo Ciccolini. His activity focused on

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

: he transcribed '' The Musical Offering'' for two pianos, the ''

Brandenburg Concertos The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg ...

'', the '' Deutsche Messe'' and the ''

Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087 Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

''. He also reconstructed, performed and recorded the ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'' for soloists, choir and piano by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Major work

In 1995, Lotoro founded the Orchestra Musica Judaica. In the 1990s, he conceived the project of collecting the musical literature produced by musicians in captivity during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, starting with the collection and recording of all the piano and chamber music works written by Alois Piňos, Petr Pokorný,

Petr Eben Petr Eben (22 January 1929 – 24 October 2007) was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music, and an organist and choirmaster. His life Born in Žamberk in northeastern Bohemia, Eben spent most of his childhood and early ad ...

and others after the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

, and above all by recording works for the music Encyclopedia in 48 CD-volumes titled ''KZ Musik''. ''KZ Musik'' which consists of the recording of the musical corpus created in places of captivity, deportation and deprivation of human rights from the opening of the

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

and

Börgermoor Emslandlager ("Emsland camps") were a series of 15 moorland labor, punitive and POWs-camps, active from 1933 to 1945 and located in the districts of Emsland and Bentheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. The central administration was set in Papenburg ...

camps until liberation at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and on the Eurasian (May 1945) and the Pacific (August 1945) sides. In this collection he recorded ''Symphony No. 8'' by Erwin Schulhoff for piano (written in the

Wülzburg Wülzburg is a historical fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ...

Internment Camp), the piano score of ''Don Quixote tanzt Fandango'' by Viktor Ullmann and of ''Nonet'' by

Rudolf Karel Rudolf Karel (9 November 1880 in Plzeň – 6 March 1945 in Theresienstadt) was a distinguished Czech people, Czech composer. Biography Rudolf Karel was a son of a railway employee. He studied law at Charles University and then composition from ...

(written in the Pankrác prison,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

). As a composer he created the opera ''Misha e i lupi'' and the Suite ''"Golà"'' for singer and chamber orchestra. He is the author of the volumes ''Fonte di ogni bene: canti di risveglio ebraico composti dal 1930 al 1945 a Sannicandro Garganico'' (Rotas, 2009), ''Renato Virgilio. Vita e opere di un musicista'' (ed. Rotas, 2010), ''Alla ricerca della musica perduta. Prolegomeni a una letteratura musicale concentrazionaria'' (Rotas, 2012) and ''Antologia musicale concentrazionaria: opere musicali scritte in cattività civile e militare durante la Seconda guerra mondiale'' (Rotas, 2015). Conductor Paolo Candido collaborated with him on the first and second book.

Institute of Concentrationary Music Literature

In 2014, with his wife Grazia Tiritiello and other partners, Lotoro established the Foundation Institute of Concentrationary Music Literature based in Barletta, a non-profit organization that takes care of the archive of music scores written in concentration camps. The archive includes 8,000 music scores, 12,000 audiovisual and paper documents and 3,000 non-fiction books. The Foundation, of which Lotoro is president, promotes also the Citadel of Concentrationary Music, the world's biggest hub dedicated to the concentrationary music to be built in the same city, near an ancient and disused distillery. Francesco Lotoro and the concentrationary music are the subject of two international publishing initiatives: the book ''Le Maestro: À la recherche de la musique des camps (1933-1945)'' (Éditions Stock, 2012) by French writer Thomas Saintourens and the documentary ''Maestro'' by the Franco-Argentine director Alexandre Valenti, an Italian-French co-production of 2017 screened in cinemas all over the world and aired on major international TV channels. In December 2019, Lotoro's work was the subject of a ''

60 minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' story.

Private life

He married Grazia Tiritiello, his main collaborator; they have no children. Francesco and Grazia

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

in 2004.

Recognition

In November 2013, Francesco Lotoro was awarded the title of

Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

by the French Ministry of Culture, because - the motivation says - ''"he dedicated considerable efforts to search scores of French composers deported to the lagers, thus saving their music "'', bringing to completion a ''"simply exceptional"'' work. In December 2014 he was awarded the title of Knight

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

, conferred by President Sergio Mattarella.

Discography

* F. Busoni, F. Nietzsche, B. Pasternak, F. G. Lorca. Sorriso * Shoah; R. Karel, P. Haas, G. Klein, V. Ullmann. Sorriso * F. Nietzsche; Christmas Oratorium (Lotoro, RSI). Sorriso * Brundibár; H. Krása, G. Klein, V. Ullmann. Sorriso * F. Nietzsche; Christmas Oratorium (Lotoro, Ars Cantica). Sarx * J.S. Bach; A Musical Offering, (Lotoro, Greco). Symposion * Praha '68; Piňos, Pokorný, Eben, Ištvan, Knizak. Symposion * J.S. Bach; A German Mass (Lotoro, Ciccolini). Symposion * Musica Judaica (2 CDs). Symposion * KZ MUSIK, 48 CD-volumes (Lotoro&others). Musikstrasse-Membran * "Musiciens martyrs de l'holocauste" : Rudolf Karel, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Victor Ullmann.

Arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

(ARN 68339).

Publications

* F. Nietzsche; Christmas Oratorio (reconstruction of music and lyrics) * J.S. Bach; A Musical Offering e Erbarme dich (transcription for two pianos) * J.S. Bach; A German Mass e 14 Canoni (transcription for two pianos) * P. Eben; Svatý Václave (transcription for two pianos) * ''Dizionario della Letteratura Musicale Concentrazionaria'' * ''Fonte di ogni bene: canti di risveglio ebraico composti dal 1930 al 1945 a Sannicandro Garganico'' (Rotas, 2009) * ''Renato Virgilio. Vita e opere di un musicista'' (ed. Rotas, 2010) * ''Alla ricerca della musica perduta. Prolegomeni a una letteratura musicale concentrazionaria'' (Rotas, 2012) * ''Antologia musicale concentrazionaria: opere musicali scritte in cattività civile e militare durante la Seconda guerra mondiale'' (Rotas, 2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lotoro, Francesco Italian musicologists Italian male pianists 1964 births Living people Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Converts to Judaism Jewish musicians 20th-century Italian Jews Italian expatriates in Hungary People from Barletta 20th-century Italian musicians 21st-century Italian musicians 20th-century pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century Italian Jews