Pianist Elia Cecino, 23 years from Casale, on Thursday 20 at the Auditorium Sant’Artemio with Schumann, Brahms and Chopin
Between an international commitment and another, Elia Cecino returns to play in Treviso, on February Thursday 20 at 8.45 pm in the Auditorium Sant’Artemio for Matti per la Musica by Asolo Musica. The 23 years old pianist from Casale, who among the many prestigious competitions won include the Premio Venezia and the Iturbi International Piano Competition in Valencia, will propose an unusual program dedicated to the romantic piano.
Elia Cecino, what will the audience of Matti per la Musica listen to?
«It will be a game on references between Robert Schumann, Fryderyk Chopin and Johannes Brahms. I will start with a real gem, the Variations on a Nocturne by Chopin: a very particular piece, unfinished, which is rarely performed. Then I will move on to the Second Ballade by Chopin, dedicated to Schumann and the Variations on a theme of Schumann by Brahms, to conclude with the Sonata n. 1 with which the young Brahms appeared for the first time in Schumann’s house».
Much romanticism indicates a precise choice of specialization in this repertoire?
«I don’t think specializing in a repertoire is a responsibility suited to my age. Especially in Italy it is necessary to demonstrate that you can deal with different repertoires and less known works. And I always find it very gratifying not to deepen a piece, but to insert it in an overall project, looking for particularities and links with others. Recently I had carte blanche to record two CDs, one dedicated to Brahms, which will be released soon for IBS Classical, and one on Schumann that I have just recorded for Brilliant Classics. In Schumann, above all, I combined known and lesser-known works even by inventing a personal order of execution. I felt that I had something to say and I tried to say so. And it was a significant moment of deepening and growth. The program of this concert is also the result of this recent experience».
Will you explain it to the public, as you often do?
«I like talking to the public, but it’s challenging. I do it in collected dimensions or when it is necessary, as when I approach classical authors to contemporary music, as I did last year, although it was complex because I had to make the presentations in English, because I have played in various parts of Europe and the United States».
After the many concerts and competitions abroad, did you ever think that your career would be easier outside of Italy?
«I think about it, yes. But I don’t think it’s easier to make your way just by living abroad. There are many good pianists and even the victories of great competitions do not define the career. The competition is big and not easy: to distinguish myself, as well as on quality, I’m focusing on personality and for now there are good feedback.
Here, then, I’m lucky to have a family that supports me, friends-colleagues with whom I grew up at the school of Maddalena De Facci who continues to be a valuable guide. And recently I share with my sister Vera, also a pianist, a former office where we can play in peace and where new musical projects are taking shape, even within the Sile Classica Festival that with her and the other friends of Iris Musica we started three years ago. So no, I’m not going to move at the moment».
What about the future?
«On 23 February I will be in Vienna for the First Concerto by Brahms and in April I will play for the first time at the Unione Musicale in Torino».
Marina Grasso
La Tribuna di Treviso
February 18, 2025