Marcos Madrigal and Alessandro Stella: discoveries with four hands

March 30, 2021

The Cuban Institute of Music explained in a note that: pianists Marcos Madrigal, from Cuba, and Alessandro Stella, from Italy, are recording in Paris a unique album with a repertoire unknown to the world, under the French record label Artalinna.

This is the first world recording of three works by Idelbrando Pizzetti and Italo Montemezzi transcribed for piano four hands by Italian composer Mario Pilati and published by Ricordi in 1929.

And saying it that way is quick and easy, but Madrigal himself recounted in an exclusive interview from the French capital how they came across these pieces that turn out to be a true revelation:

"First of all, we discovered the three Pizzetti preludes, in a four-hands version, by Mario Pilati, inspired by Oedipus Rex, a work that we didn't know, but we came across it and it was part of the operation we did some years ago to make the re-premiere in modern times of this version, because it's not even known if in Pizzetti's time it was premiered".

This operation began in Paris, but the Cuban public had the privilege of being witness during the opening day of the second Habana Clásica Festival, which Marcos Madrigal himself organizes.

"We premiered it in Paris, thanks to the invitation from Pierre-Yves Lascar to the Les Nuits Oxygene festival, and then, as part of this musicological symposium that was held at the Chigiana, which is practically the most important musical and intellectual center in Italy, where a whole event was held around the figure of Pizzetti, who along with other composers of the Generation of the 80s, is being attempted to be rescued, and to make the premiere in the American continent, we chose the opening of the second Habana Clásica Festival".

The space where the duo of Madrigal and Stella presented the aforementioned composition in the city of Siena, was the study meeting "Pizzetti classical and modern". They were there by invitation of the director of the Chigiana Academy, Nicola Sani, and along with Italian musicologist Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini. But so far, we have only talked about "Three Symphonic Preludes from Sophocles' Oedipus Rex", one of the three pieces that are being recorded these days in the City of Light. The story is longer and charged with eagerness and love for music.

From virtuoso instrumentalists to eager researchers, they decided to discover what other works existed transcribed for four hands by Pizzetti, and the inquiry led them to the musicological collections of Florence and Naples:

"We found the manuscripts of two other transcriptions, one by Pizzetti, the Concerto Dell'Estate, and another by a composer named Italo Montemezzi. The interesting story is that these three transcriptions were made by Mario Pilati, who is a Neapolitan composer. This means that on this album, although there are two authors of the music, all three transcriptions are by the same composer, Mario Pilati, and they would turn out to be the only three transcriptions he made, that is, in the end it would be to integrate the piano transcriptions of Mario Pilati. Thanks to the research we did after we discovered the Preludes, we found out that Pilati had transcribed these other two works that, apart from being practically unknown in their original versions for orchestra, the four-hands versions are not even known if they were ever premiered at the time they were made".

Of course we wanted to know if we will have the pleasure in Cuba of also attending this new release:

"Yes, of course my idea is that we premiere the album when it comes out in Havana, very likely within the framework of the Habana Clásica Festival. In any case, we all hope that this epidemiological situation changes as soon as possible and allows us to return to concert halls. Then yes, as soon as the album hits the market, we estimate it will be next year. We are fortunate that Alessandro is one of the regular guests, that he is part of the Festival family, and surely within the framework of Habana Clásica we will premiere these works, thus making the American premiere of the other two pieces and reminding the Havana audience of the Preludes".

In Europe, the duo of Marcos Madrigal and Alessandro Stella is already making waves. The French magazine Classica published: "A creative force seems to run across the entire span of the keyboard hand in hand, generating a myriad of events scattered among the labyrinths of these scores full of life".

They show themselves grateful and with good vibes, as the ICM note assures: "About the repertoire of the album they are currently recording, Alessandro Stella expressed his surprise at discovering 'these wonderful treasures that were unknown for a long time, and it is an incredible joy to have the opportunity to make them to share and show them to the world'."

"For Marcos Madrigal it is a privilege to be able to do this project: 'We are very grateful to be in Paris making these recordings, despite the current circumstances generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a surprise and a privilege to discover and work on these works, which give us great strength and make us believe in music to move forward'."