Great Success for Mirco Patarini, XV Strumenti&Musica Festival Opening Concert

Spoleto, 10 November 2024 – The opening of the XV Edition of the Strumenti&Musica Festival was held at the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto with full audience to hear Mirco Patarini, internationally renowned concert accordionist and Artistic Director of the Strumenti&Musica Festival, perform in his home city of Spoleto. Accompanying him on stage were the ‘Musici Lirienses’ Orchestra conducted by Alessandro Cedrone and the famous clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi.

Pre-concert pictures

The Municipality of Spoleto was represented by the Vice-President of the Municipal Council Maura Coltorti who spoke in support of the festival.

The concert started with Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Oblivion’ one of the most popular and beautiful compositions, immediately capturing the audience’s heart. Mirco Patarini performed with exceptional intensity, demonstrating Piazzolla’s genius and also giving the audience a deeply sensitive performance.

Concert – 1st half

Immediately afterwards, the orchestra, masterfully conducted by Maestro Alessandro Cedrone, performed André Mehmari’s ‘Strambotti’, a piece for accordion, strings and clarinet, enriched by the superbly talented performance of Gabriele Mirabassi. This work, rich in contrasts and with a refined compositional structure, offered a perfect fusion of Patarini’s accordion and Mirabassi’s clarinet, creating a musical dialogue that developed between classical suggestions and South American rhythms. Mirabassi, with his in-depth knowledge of Brazilian and South American music, helped give ‘Strambotti’ an almost ethereal dimension that captured the emotions of the audience.

The concert continued with ‘Done’ by Bete Ilin, a ‘Balkan’ style piece with rhythms that are completely unusual for Western countries, with aggressive parts and romantic moments reminiscent of Macedonian folk music; and with Richard Galliano’s ‘Opale Concerto’, a piece that highlights the complexity and expressive potential of the accordion and is capable of giving voice to the most intimate atmospheres and virtuoso passages. The string section elegantly underlined the solo passages, supporting Patarini’s phrasing in a crescendo of intensity and musical colour that captivated the audience, who did not fail to applaud warmly.

Next was Roberto Molinelli’s “Il bosco della musica”, conceived for accordion, strings and percussion. “Il bosco della musica” evoked a warm response from the audience with its contemporary sound and harmonious collaboration of musicians receiving strong applause.

Concert 2nd half pictures:

Closing the evening was the ‘Love Theme’ from the soundtrack of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Morricone’s popular masterpiece. The first notes of the famous love theme aroused palpable emotion in the hall, and the performance combined technical virtuosity and genuine emotion. The audience welcomed this finale featuring Mirco Patarini with a long applause, confirming the success of a concert that not only celebrated music, but also offered an a tribute to the city of Spoleto and its popular Festival.

After the concert pictures:

14 November
10:00 to 16:00 | Teatro Nuovo, Auditions for International Piano Competition
21:00 | Teatro Caio Melisso, Mediterranean and its Surroundings from an idea by Marco Poeta and Moni Ovadia, performance in music and poetry taken from the literary work Mediterranean Breviary by Predrag Matvejevic. Admission € 10,00 reservations email: info@strumentiemusica.com

15 November
11:00 to 18:00 | Teatro Nuovo, Auditions for International Piano Competition
21:00 | Teatro Nuovo Award Ceremony and premiere performance of the winning work of the VI International competition of Composition “City of Spoleto” Roberto Bruno Prize.
Ars Spoletium New Music for concert accordion, Lucrezia Proietti (piano), Ivano Battiston (accordion), Stefano Di Loreto (accordion), Fabrizio Causio (accordion)

16 November
09:00 to 19:00 Teatro Nuovo, Auditions for International Piano Competition
21:00 | New Theatre, Hall XVII September, Duo Cokiba in Concert, Coba (accordion), Masashi Togame (clarinet)

17 November
10:00 to 13:00 Caio Melisso Theater, Auditions for International Piano Competition
17:00 Caio Melisso Theater, Concert of the Winners of the International Piano Competition
“City of Spoleto” X Edition

Download pdf printable event program: XVStrumenti
FOR INFORMATION AND TICKETS
E-mail: info@strumentiemusica.com – Tel. 328 4658880