Roberto Prosseda (born 1975) is an Italian classical pianist. Prosseda began composing for the piano at the age of four, and took his first private piano lessons at six. In 1985, he entered the Conservatorio Ottorino Respighi in Latina, where he studied piano with Anna Maria Martinelli, graduating in 1994. He went on to study with

Alexander Lonquich Alexander Lonquich (born 28 August 1960 in Trier) is a German classical pianist and conductor. Biography Lonquich studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, Andrzej Jasiński, and Ilonka Deckers-Küszler. He won the first prize at the Alessandro Casa ...

, Boris Petrushansky and Franco Scala at the Accademia Pianistica "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola, and with

Dmitri Bashkirov Dmitri Aleksandrovich Bashkirov (russian: Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Башки́ров; November 1, 1931 – March 7, 2021) was a Russian pianist and academic teacher. Trained in his hometown Tbilisi and Moscow, he began an in ...

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most ref ...

, William Grant Naboré, Charles Rosen,

Karl Ulrich Schnabel Karl Ulrich Schnabel (August 6, 1909 – August 27, 2001) was an Austrian pianist. Schnabel was the son of pianist Artur Schnabel and operatic contralto and lieder singer Therese Behr and elder brother of the American actor Stefan Schnabel. An ...

Fou Ts'ong Fou Ts'ong (; 10 March 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Chinese-born British pianist who was the first pianist of his national origin to achieve international recognition. He came to prominence after winning third prize and the Polish Radio Prize ...

at the International Piano Foundation in

Cadenabbia Cadenabbia (Cadenabbia di Griante) is a small community in Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Como, on the west shore of Lake Como. The community is part of the comune of Griante, between the communities of Menaggio and Tremezzo. Cadenabbia ...

(Lake Como, Italy). Prosseda has won major prizes in several piano competitions, including the Umberto Micheli competition in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, the Franz Schubert competition in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

, the Alessandro Casagrande competition in

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

, and the Mozart competition in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. Prosseda completed his PhD in Italian Literature from La Sapienza University in Rome. Prosseda and his wife, concert pianist Alessandra Ammara, perform as a piano duo. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Felix Mendelssohn. He has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn, including a ''Mendelssohn Discoveries'' album of formerly unknown works. Prosseda discovered a manuscript of Mendelssohn's uncompleted third piano concerto in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

, and asked Marcello Bufalini to complete the score. Prosseda subsequently performed the reconstruction publicly and recorded it commercially. Prosseda has prepared critical editions of rare piano works by Mendelssohn, including 6 Fugues (1821–26), 4 Sonatas (1820), and Fantasia for piano four hands (1824). Prosseda is founder and president of the ''Associazione Mendelssohn'', which promotes the music and the heritage of Felix Mendelssohn. Prosseda dedicated the early part of his career to the discovery of piano works by several neglected Italian composers, such as

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monar ...

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

and Roffredo Caetani. He published the first edition of Salieri's Sonata in C major in 2004 for Boccaccini & Spada. In September 2011, Prosseda gave his first public performance on the ''piano-pédalier'' (

pedal piano The pedal piano (or piano-pédalier or pédalier,) is a kind of piano that includes a Pedal keyboard, pedalboard, enabling bass register notes to be played with the feet, as is standard on the pipe organ, organ. There are two broad types of pedal ...

), the modern première of

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been '' Faust'' (1859); his '' Roméo et Juliette'' (1867) also rema ...

's concerto for piano-pédalier and orchestra in E flat major (1889), with the Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini conducted by Jan Latham Koenig. Subsequently, contemporary composers have written piano pedal pieces for Prosseda, including Cristian Carrara, Ennio and Andrea Morricone, Giuseppe Lupis, Alessandro Solbiati and Michael Glenn Williams. Prosseda has commercially recorded four works by Charles Gounod for piano-pédalier and orchestra (Concerto, Suite Concertante, Fantaisie sur l'Hymne Russe and Danse Roumaine) for Hyperion. In June 2012, Prosseda made his debut recital on the piano-pédalier at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

Career

Prosseda is a host on the Italian National Radio (

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

), Radiotre, and a contributor to the "Lezioni di Musica" series on RAI. He is also the author of "Lezioni di Musica - il Pianoforte", a listening guide to piano repertoire, published in Italian by Edizioni Curci in 2013. He co-produced three documentaries: "

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

Unknown", "

Fryderyk Chopin The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BR ...

", and "

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

: The Years of Pilgrimage". Prosseda is also a co-founder and artistic coordinator of "Donatori di Musica", a network of musicians and doctors who organise concert series in Italian hospitals.

Experiments with technology

Since 2012, Prosseda has also given lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation. On 23 August 2012 at the Philharmonie in Berlin, he appeared as a ghost pianist, playing a

Clavinova The Clavinova is a long-running line of digital pianos created by the Yamaha Corporation. The name is a portmanteau of the two words ''Clavier'' meaning 'keyboard instrument' and ''nova'' meaning 'new'. It is similar in function to an acoustic ...

digital piano A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emula ...

from

backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

, connected in real time via Midi with TeoTronico. The robot, onstage, mirrored Prosseda's performance of Chopin's Polacca Brillante op. 22, reproducing it on a normal grand piano with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. This was the first experiment of a live teleconcert with a ghost pianist. He repeated the experiment in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...

in November 2012, performing

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's concerto K. 488 backstage, with TeoTronico on stage with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

Honours and awards

* Supersonic Award by Pizzicato (March 2013) for Prosseda's Decca CD "Piano con Fuoco" * Diapason d'Or of the Month (November 2009) awarded for the Mendelssohn Discoveries Decca CD. * Premio Petrassi per la Musica, 2010. Awarded by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classic ...

to Roberto Prosseda at Parco della Musica, Roma, 27 September 2010. * Premio Silvestro Sasso 2002 for the best University Dissertation about Music. * Amadeus Award as "Miglior CD del Mese", awarded for Mendelssohn Discoveries, May 2005.

Recordings

* CD Decca (2020) Mendelssohn 3 Violin Sonatas, with Shlomo Mintz * CD Decca (2019) Mendelssohn Concertos for two pianos * CD Decca (2019) Mendelssohn Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra (versione con fiati e timpani). Con Shlomo Mintz. Flanders Symphony Orchestra, diretta da Jan Latham Koenig * CD Decca (2018) Mendelssohn Piano Concertos n. 1 - 2, Rondo Brillante, con Residentie Orkest e Jan WIllem de Vriend * CD Decca (2018) Gounod Piano Works * CD Decca (2019) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte, n. 13-18 * CD Decca (2017) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte, n.7-12 * CD Decca (2016) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte n. 1-6 * CD Decca (2015) Mendelssohn, Opere complete per pianoforte a 4 mani e per 2 pianoforti - Prosseda/Ammara * CD Decca (2016) Mozart, Mozart for babies * CD Decca (2015) Mendelssohn, Opere complete per pianoforte a 4 mani e per 2 pianoforti - Prosseda/Ammara * CD Decca 481 1010 (3 CDs, 2014) Felix Mendelssohn: Da Capo Al Fine (Complete Variations, Preludes and Fugues, Charakterstücke, Etudes, Klavierstücke, with 29 World Premiere Recordings) * DVD "Pedal Piano Recital", Continuo Records, 2014 (Original Works for Pedal Piano by Schumann, Boëly, Alkan and Gounod) * CD Hyperion CDA67975 (2013) The Romantic Piano Concerto, vol.62 - Charles Gounod: The complete works for pedal piano and orchestra * CD Decca 476 5190 (2012) Felix Mendelssohn: Early Chamber Works (Quartetti per pf. e archi) * CD Decca 476 5118 (2 CD, 2012) Felix Mendelssohn: Piano con Fuoco (4 Sonatas, 5 Fantasias, 5 Capricci) * CD Decca 476 4545 (2011) Franz Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage, Italie. * CD Decca 476 3962 (2010) Robert Schumann: "Fantasia" (Fantasia op. 17, Arabesque op. 18, Kinderszenen op. 15, Waldszenen op. 82) * CD Decca 478 1525 (2009) Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto n. 3 (reconstructed by Marcello Bufalini). Gewandhaus Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly * CD Decca 476 6796 (2 CD, 2008) Felix Mendelssohn: 56 Lieder ohne Worte – First complete performance (2008) * CD Decca 476 6165 (2007) «Chopin» * CD Decca 476 5277 (2006) «Mendelssohn Rarities». Felix Mendelssohn: 4 Early Piano Sonatas, World Premiere Recording * CD Decca 476 3038 (2005) «Mendelssohn Discoveries». Felix Mendelssohn: 13 Piano Works, World Premiere Recordings * CD Velut Luna 112 (2005) “Piano Vibratili”. Italian Contemporary Piano Works * CD Naxos 8.557676 Luigi Dallapiccola: Complete Piano Works (2003) * CD Fonè 2049 Goffredo Petrassi: Complete Piano Works (1999) * DVD Domovideo “Roberto Prosseda” Piano Recital (Mozart,

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, Chopin) * CD Fonè 2049 Goffredo Petrassi: Complete Piano Works (1999) * CD Naxos 8.557676 Luigi Dallapiccola: Complete Piano Works (2003)

References

External links

Official Roberto Prosseda webpage

Prosseda, Roberto, 'Aldo Clementi: The Works for Solo Piano'. ''Contemporary Music Review'', Volume 30, Numbers 3-4, 1 June 2011 , pp. 299-315, Routledge

"Roberto Prosseda resurrects the Pedal-Piano!". Classic FM page (undated, presumed from 2011)

YouTube video, Alkan: Prélude op. 66 n. 4 pour piano-pédalier, Roberto Prosseda performance, 4 June 2012, Teatro Olimpico

"'Piano con fuoco' vince il premio 'Supersonic'", Universal Music Italia, 28 February 2013 (Italian language page)

"'Mendelssohn Discoveries' Trionfa in Francia", Universal Music Italia, 4 November 2009 (Italian language page)

OCLC World Catalog page, Antonio Salieri editions edited by Prosseda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosseda, Roberto Italian classical pianists Male classical pianists Italian male pianists Living people Pedal piano players 1975 births 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century Italian male musicians