Description

“A pianist rare in his generation. He does nothold back in his use of the expression pedal, shining above all inthe art of singing on the keyboard with an inventiveness ofphrasing that demonstrates his exquisite musical intelligence”:Costantino Catena was defined in these words by the musicologistCarlo Vitali in the magazine Amadeus.

He has performed in Europe, Australia, U.S.A., Russia and Japanat the invitation of important musical and cultural associationsand institutes, including the Accademia Filarmonica (Bologna), theKennedy Center and Georgetown University (Washington), Amici delTeatro Regio (Torino), Amici della Musica (Trapani), the YasarConcert Hall (Izmir), the Winchester University, Auditorium Parcodella Musica (Roma), the Dante Alighieri Society, the LisztMemorial Museum (Budapest), the Ravello International Festival, theAlghero International Festival, Filarmonica De Stat Transilvania ofCluj-Napoca, the Liszt Institute of Bologna, the Moscow TchaikovskyConservatory, the Kusatsu International Festival, the Ohrid SummerFestival.

Costantino Catena has an intense recording activity, mainly withthe Japanese label Camerata Tokyo, with which he began workingrecording Franz Liszt's complete works for violin and piano, aswell as a double CD featuring all of his piano works dedicated toVenezia and Napoli, a blu-ray dedicated to Debussy and Schumann andother solo CDs. Recently the CD "Hidden Orchestra", including theConcerto op. 54 by Schumann for Piano and Orchestra transcriptedfor piano and organ by Claudio Brizi, was included into theprogramming board by the All Nippon Airway and the CD with theQuartet and the Quintet of Schumann, recorded with the QuartettoSavinio was awarded with 5 stars by the magazine Musica. He hasrecorded for Phoenix Classics and Nuova Era International labels,too.

His recordings were often broadcasted in Italy and abroad (RAIRadiotelevisione Italiana, NHK Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, RSI Radio dellaSvizzera Italiana, MR Magyar Rádió) and received excellent reviewsfrom leading magazines and important music critics: «In Nuits d’étéà Pausilippe and Soirées Musicales de Rossini Costantino Catenastrikes the perfect balance of sentiment and relaxed charm inreadings that could scarcely be more idiomatic. In Carnaval deVenise Catena revels in the droll humor and far-fetched technicaldemands of Liszt’s setting, creating a listening experience that’sgreat fun. In Venezia e Napoli, the supplement to Book 2 of theAnnées de pèlerinage, Catena exhibits his natural, unaffectedfeeling toward the music’s popular source materials. The extendedtrio of the famous Tarantella is almost ethereal in its beauty.This triptych, recorded so frequently over the past couple ofyears, is here as deliciously atmospheric and echt-Italian as onecould wish.» (Patrick Rucker, Fanfare Magazine - USA); «Catenajumps through the many circus hoops of Liszt’s “Tarantella dibravura sulla Muette di Portici” with grace and fluency. He isfinely sensitive in RW – Venezia, capturing all of Liszt’sdesolation as he watched Wagner’s funeral procession of gondolasglide down the Grand Canal» (Bryce Morrison, Gramophone UK); «He isable to exploit the delicious mechanics of the Yamaha piano withoutsuffering the notorious musical dullness (only Richter, in mymemory, was successful before): the result is a performance inwhich every note is given meaning, an interpretation in whichnothing is left to chance and yet nothing seems studied, the musicrunning elastic, airy, full of vitality» (Bernardo Pieri, Musica);«Interpretations full of grace and sensitivity» (Paolo Isotta).