Carlo Grante

Carlo Grante (born 1960 in L'Aquila) is an Italian classical pianist. He graduated at the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli. Later he also studied with Ivan Davis, Rudolf Firkušný, and Alisa Kezheradze. He is known as a performer of mainstream classical composers such as Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Domenico Scarlatti, as well as highly demanding late romantic and 20th-century composers such as Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, George Flynn, Roman Vlad, Michael Finnissy, Alistair Hinton, and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. His discography consists of more than 50 albums.[1][2]

Biography

Grante graduated in piano at the Conservatory St. Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, then he studied in the U.S. with Ivan Davis, at the University of Miami and with Rudolf Firkusny at the Juilliard School in New York; he then moved to London, where he studied intensively with Alisa Kezheradze-Pogorelić.

Grante is one of the most active among today's recording pianists and his concert repertoire, which has also contributed to the appreciation of lesser-known works. His discography currently numbers more than fifty CDs, ranging from Domenico Scarlatti (the complete recording of the sonatas is taking place in Vienna—a project of about 40 CDs under the patronage of Bösendorfer and Paul and Eva Badura-Skoda), Platti, Clementi, Liszt and Schumann, to twentieth-century composers as Godowsky, Busoni and Sorabji. His recent record productions include works by Roman Vlad (Opus Triplex) and Finnissy (Bachsche Nachdichtungen) dedicated to him and inspired by Bach and Busoni, the two concertos for piano and orchestra by Franz Schmidt with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi, three concertos for piano and orchestra by Mozart with the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome conducted by Bernhard Sieberer, the Busoni Concerto, recorded live in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony conducted by Fabio Luisi, the three sonatas by Schumann (recorded in the Sala Santa Cecilia in Rome's Parco della Musica), as well as works by Godowsky, Rachmaninoff, Flynn, Bloch and Liszt.

In his concert activity[3] he has performed in major concert venues and prestigious halls: the Grosser Saal of the Konzerthaus and Goldener Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall in London, at the Parco della Musica in Rome, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Semperoper, Staatsoper Stuttgart, in New York, Chicago, Milan, Moscow, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Zagreb, Bucharest, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, the Vienna Festival, Istanbul, Husum, Newport, Neuhaus Festival in Saratov, Miami, Tallinn, Ravello, MDR Musiksommer, etc., with major orchestras, such as Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Vienna Symphony, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Orchestra of Radio-TV in Zagreb, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cappella Istropolitana of Bratislava, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, etc. Grante has also written scholarly articles regarding research into methodology and piano literature.

At the Newport Music Festival in 1995, Grante performed the world premiere of the 53 Studies on the Études of Chopin by Leopold Godowsky. In 1996, on the occasion of two recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, a Musical Opinion reviewer wrote: "The discs of Grante had shown astonishing qualities... his live performances have then proved him to be the first rate pianist that his discs suggested."

In 1997 he gave a series of six recitals in New York.

He performed again at the Newport Music Festival in 2011 and 2012.[4]

Discography
  • Busoni: Works for Piano and Orchestra, Orchestra dei Pomeriggi musicali di Milano, Music & Arts CD-1047
  • Piano works by Busoni, Bloch, Finnissy & Flynn, Music & Arts CD-1247
  • Busoni, Troncon – P. Troncon: 6 Preludes and Fugues F. Busoni: Prélude et Etude; Fantasia nach Bach; Vivace e Leggero; Perpetuum mobile, Music & Arts CD-1157
  • Busoni, Vlad – Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Roman Vlad: Opus Triplex, Music & Arts CD-1186-1
  • Muzio Clementi – The Sonatas for Solo Piano, Vol. 1, Altarus
  • Leopold Godowsky Edition, Vol. 1 – Passacaglia; 12 Schubert Song Transcriptions, Music & Arts CD-984
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 2 – Bach Violin Sonatas Transcriptions, Music & Arts CD-1039
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 3 – Bach Cello Suites Transcriptions, Music & Arts CD-1046
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 4 – Studies on Chopin's Etudes, Music & Arts CD-1093
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 5 – Transcriptions from Weber, Schumann, Chopin, Music & Arts CD-1189
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 6 – "Renaissance" Transcriptions, Music & Arts CD-1215
  • Godowsky Edition, Vol. 7 – Transcriptions and Paraphrases, Albeniz to Richard Strauss, Music & Arts CD-1259
  • Godowsky Studies on Chopin's Etudes Vol. 1, Studien über die Etüden von Chopin Nos. 1–20, Altarus Air CD 9092
  • Godowsky Studies on Chopin's Etudes Vol. 2, Studien über die Etüden von Chopin Nos. 21–43, Altarus Air CD 9093
  • Godowsky Studies on Chopin's Etudes Vol. 3, Studien über die Etüden von Chopin Nos. 44–48, Passacaglia, 4 Chopin Waltz transcriptions, Altarus Air CD 9094
  • Giovanni Benedetto Platti
    • Platti – Sonatas Vol. 1, Sonatas 1–4, Dante PSG9647
    • Platti – Sonatas Vol. 2, Sonatas 5–8, Dante PSG9648
    • Platti – Sonatas Vol. 3, Sonatas 9–13, Dante PSG9651
  • Liszt, Busoni, Sorabji – Liszt: Norma Fantasy, Don Juan Fantasy, Busoni: Sonatina super Carmen, Sorabji: Carmen Pastiche, Altarus Air CD
  • Franz Liszt – Via crucis, Harmonies poétiques et religieuses
  • Carlo Grante Live in New York – Liszt: Mazeppa, Sonata, Bach-Busoni: Chaconne
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Concerto K. 449 – Concerto K. 488 – Concerto K. 365 (Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome; B. Sieberer, cond.; Barbara Panzarella, piano II in K. 365), Music & Arts CD-1222
  • Poulenc; Saint-Saëns; Elliot – Music for Woodwinds and Piano, Altarus Air CD 9032
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff – Preludes Op. 32, Corelli Variations, Isle of the Dead (transcr. G. Kirkor) Music & Arts CD-1128
  • Scarlatti – Domenico Scarlatti, Vol. 1 (6 CDs, 90 Sonatas), 30 Essercizi, Parma book I: Sonatas 1–30, Parma book II: Sonatas 1–30, Music & Arts CD-1236
  • Scarlatti – Domenico Scarlatti, Vol. 2 (6 CDs, 90 Sonatas), Parma book III: Sonatas 1–30, Parma book IV: Sonatas 1–30, Parma book V: Sonatas 1–30, Music & Arts CD-1242
  • Franz Schmidt – Concertante Variations for piano (left hand) and orchestra, Concerto in E-flat major German Radio Orchestra, MDR Leipzig, Fabio Luisi, cond. Querstand VKJK 0611
  • Robert Schumann – Three Piano Sonatas, Sonata, Op. 11, Sonata, Op. 14, Sonata, Op. 22 Music & Arts CD-1120
  • Roman Vlad – Major piano works Cantata No. 3, "Le ciel est vide" Santa Cecilia Academy Chorus and Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. Music & Arts CD-1217
  • Maria Hofer – Toccata (piano solo) Ballada, for violoncello and piano (with Euden Prochak) Lieder (with Patrizia Cigna, Wolf Matthias Friedrich)(noncommercial compilation)
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (noncommercial compilation)

Publications
  • Appunti di studio – 6 capolavori pianistici (in progress)
  • Criteri primari di metodologia pianistica, Rugginenti Editori, Milano, 2012 ISBN 978-88-7665-620-0. English Fundamentals of Piano Methodology (2013), ISBN 978-88-7665-637-8

Bibliography
  • Roberto Piana, Around the Piano. Appunti intorno al pianoforte, Magnum Edizioni, Sassari, 2001
  • Roberto Piana incontra Carlo Grante, Editoriale Documenta, Cargeghe, 2009

References
  1. "Carlo Grante, pianist". carlogrante.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  2. "Carlo Grante". onepointfm.com.
  3. Jean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p. 51. ISBN 978 2 3505 5192 0.
  4. "Newport Music Festival 2012 Celebrates 44th Season". Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
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