Roberto Prosseda

File:Roberto Prosseda.JPG, Florence, November 2013]]Roberto Prosseda (born 1975) is an Italian classical pianist.

Prosseda began composing for the piano at the age of four, and took his first private piano lessons at six. In 1985, he entered the Conservatorio Ottorino Respighi in Latina, where he studied piano with Anna Maria Martinelli, graduating in 1994. He went on to study with Alexander Lonquich, Boris Petrushansky and Franco Scala at the Accademia Pianistica "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola, and with Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Charles Rosen, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Fou Ts'ong at the International Piano Foundation in Cadenabbia (Lake Como, Italy). Prosseda has won major prizes in several piano competitions, including the Umberto Micheli competition in Milan,{{cite web | url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2001/10/21/concorso-umberto-micheli-tre-pianisti-in-finale.html | title=Concorso 'Umberto Micheli' tre pianisti in finale alla Scala | work=La Repubblica | date=2001-10-21 |access-date=2015-07-31}} the Franz Schubert competition in Dortmund, the Alessandro Casagrande competition in Terni, and the Mozart competition in Salzburg. Prosseda completed his PhD in Italian Literature from La Sapienza University in Rome. Prosseda and his wife, concert pianist Alessandra Ammara, perform as a piano duo.

Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Felix Mendelssohn. He has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn,{{cite news | url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/mendelssohn-piano-works | title=Mendelssohn: Piano Works | work=Gramophone | author=Jeremy Nicholas | date=March 2013 | access-date=2015-07-31}} including a Mendelssohn Discoveries album of formerly unknown works.{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111507226305022582 | title=Restoring the Reputation of Wagner's Victim | work=Wall Street Journal | author=Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim | date=2005-05-03 | access-date=2015-07-31}} Prosseda discovered a manuscript of Mendelssohn's uncompleted third piano concerto in the Bodleian Library, and asked Marcello Bufalini to complete the score. Prosseda subsequently performed the reconstruction publicly and recorded it commercially.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/08/review-london-philharmonic-nezet-seguin | title=LPO/Nézet-Séguin | work=The Guardian | author=Tim Ashley | date=2009-04-08 | access-date=2015-07-31}}{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/sep/25/mendelssohn-symphony-no-3-review | title=Mendelssohn: Symphony No 3; Piano Concerto No 3; Hebrides Overture | work=The Guardian | date=2009-09-24 | access-date=2015-07-31}} Prosseda has prepared critical editions of rare piano works by Mendelssohn, including 6 Fugues (1821–26), 4 Sonatas (1820), and Fantasia for piano four hands (1824). Prosseda is founder and president of the Associazione Mendelssohn, which promotes the music and the heritage of Felix Mendelssohn.

Prosseda dedicated the early part of his career to the discovery of piano works by several neglected Italian composers, such as Antonio Salieri, Gioachino Rossini and Roffredo Caetani. He published the first edition of Salieri's Sonata in C major in 2004 for Boccaccini & Spada.{{cite news | url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2004/12/03/ora-di-salieri-prosseda-propone-inedito.html | title=E' l' ora di Salieri E Prosseda propone l' inedito | work=La Repubblica | author=Luigi di Fronzo | date=2004-12-03 | access-date=2015-07-31}}

In September 2011, Prosseda gave his first public performance on the piano-pédalier (pedal piano), the modern première of Charles Gounod's concerto for piano-pédalier and orchestra in E flat major (1889), with the Orchestra Filarmonica Toscanini conducted by Jan Latham Koenig. Subsequently, contemporary composers have written piano pedal pieces for Prosseda, including Cristian Carrara, Ennio and Andrea Morricone, Giuseppe Lupis, Alessandro Solbiati and Michael Glenn Williams.{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304444604577341410677772638 | title=Playing Heart, Soul and Feet | work=Wall Street Journal | author=Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim | date=2012-04-25 | access-date=2015-07-31}} Prosseda has commercially recorded four works by Charles Gounod for piano-pédalier and orchestra (Concerto, Suite Concertante, Fantaisie sur l'Hymne Russe and Danse Roumaine) for Hyperion.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/07/gounod-pedal-piano-orchestra-review | title=Gounod: Complete Works for Pedal Piano and Orchestra – review | work=The Guardian | author=Andrew Clements | date=2013-11-07 | access-date=2015-07-31}} In June 2012, Prosseda made his debut recital on the piano-pédalier at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

Career

Prosseda is a host on the Italian National Radio (RAI), Radiotre, and a contributor to the "Lezioni di Musica" series on RAI. He is also the author of "Lezioni di Musica - il Pianoforte", a listening guide to piano repertoire, published in Italian by Edizioni Curci in 2013. He co-produced three documentaries: "Mendelssohn Unknown", "Fryderyk Chopin", and "Liszt: The Years of Pilgrimage".

Prosseda is also a co-founder and artistic coordinator of "Donatori di Musica", a network of musicians and doctors who organise concert series in Italian hospitals.{{cite news | url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2010/08/18/donatori-di-musica-nei-reparti-del-dolore.html | title=Donatori di musica nei reparti del dolore | work=La Repubblica | author=Gregorio Moppi | date=2010-08-18 | access-date=2015-07-31}}

Experiments with technology

Since 2012, Prosseda has also given lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation.{{cite news | url=http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2013/05/robo-pianista-de-53-dedos-desafia-maestro-e-toca-cancao-brasileira.html | title=Robô pianista de 53 dedos desafia maestro e toca canção brasileira | work=Globo TV | date=2013-05-26 | access-date=2015-07-31}} On 23 August 2012 at the Philharmonie in Berlin, he appeared as a ghost pianist, playing a Clavinova digital piano from backstage, connected in real time via Midi with TeoTronico. The robot, onstage, mirrored Prosseda's performance of Chopin's Polacca Brillante op. 22, reproducing it on a normal grand piano with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. This was the first experiment of a live teleconcert with a ghost pianist. He repeated the experiment in Palermo in November 2012, performing Mozart's concerto K. 488 backstage, with TeoTronico on stage with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

Honours and awards

Supersonic Award by Pizzicato (March 2013) for Prosseda's Decca CD "Piano con Fuoco"
Diapason d'Or of the Month (November 2009) awarded for the Mendelssohn Discoveries Decca CD.
Premio Petrassi per la Musica, 2010. Awarded by Ennio Morricone to Roberto Prosseda at Parco della Musica, Roma, 27 September 2010.{{cite news | url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/settembre/29/Scelti_vincitori_del_premio_Petrassi_co_10_100929042.shtml?refresh_ce-cp | title=Esplora il significato del termine: Scelti i vincitori del premio Petrassi, Ennio Morricone presiedeva la giuria | work=Corriere della Sera | date=2010-09-29 | access-date=2015-07-31}}
Premio Silvestro Sasso 2002 for the best University Dissertation about Music.
Amadeus Award as "Miglior CD del Mese", awarded for Mendelssohn Discoveries, May 2005.

Recordings

CD Hyperion CDA68458 (2025) WAR SILENCE - Rare Italian Piano Concertos
CD Challenge Classics (2024) Beethoven: 3 Sonatas op. 2
CD Decca (2024) Mozart: Late Piano Works
CD Decca (2021) Ennio Morricone: Piano Music
CD Decca (2020) Mendelssohn 3 Violin Sonatas, with Shlomo Mintz
CD Decca (2019) Mendelssohn Concertos for two pianos
CD Decca (2019) Mendelssohn Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra (versione con fiati e timpani). Con Shlomo Mintz. Flanders Symphony Orchestra, diretta da Jan Latham Koenig
CD Decca (2018) Mendelssohn Piano Concertos n. 1 - 2, Rondo Brillante, con Residentie Orkest e Jan WIllem de Vriend
CD Decca (2018) Gounod Piano Works
CD Decca (2019) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte, n. 13-18
CD Decca (2017) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte, n.7-12
CD Decca (2016) Mozart, Sonate per pianoforte n. 1-6
CD Decca (2015) Mendelssohn, Opere complete per pianoforte a 4 mani e per 2 pianoforti - Prosseda/Ammara
CD Decca (2016) Mozart, Mozart for babies
CD Decca (2015) Mendelssohn, Opere complete per pianoforte a 4 mani e per 2 pianoforti - Prosseda/Ammara
CD Decca 481 1010 (3 CDs, 2014) Felix Mendelssohn: Da Capo Al Fine (Complete Variations, Preludes and Fugues, Charakterstücke, Etudes, Klavierstücke, with 29 World Premiere Recordings)
DVD "Pedal Piano Recital", Continuo Records, 2014 (Original Works for Pedal Piano by Schumann, Boëly, Alkan and Gounod)
CD Hyperion CDA67975 (2013) The Romantic Piano Concerto, vol.62 - Charles Gounod: The complete works for pedal piano and orchestra
CD Decca 476 5190 (2012) Felix Mendelssohn: Early Chamber Works (Quartetti per pf. e archi)
CD Decca 476 5118 (2 CD, 2012) Felix Mendelssohn: Piano con Fuoco (4 Sonatas, 5 Fantasias, 5 Capricci)
CD Decca 476 4545 (2011) Franz Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage, Italie.
CD Decca 476 3962 (2010) Robert Schumann: "Fantasia" (Fantasia op. 17, Arabesque op. 18, Kinderszenen op. 15, Waldszenen op. 82)
CD Decca 478 1525 (2009) Mendelssohn Discoveries
CD Decca 476 6796 (2 CD, 2008) Felix Mendelssohn: 56 Lieder ohne Worte – First complete performance (2008)
CD Decca 476 6165 (2007) «Chopin»
CD Decca 476 5277 (2006) «Mendelssohn Rarities». Felix Mendelssohn: 4 Early Piano Sonatas, World Premiere Recording
DVD Domovideo (2006) “Roberto Prosseda” Piano Recital (Mozart, Schubert, Chopin)
CD Decca 476 3038 (2005) «Mendelssohn Discoveries». Felix Mendelssohn: 13 Piano Works, World Premiere Recordings
CD Velut Luna 112 (2005) “Piano Vibratili”. Italian Contemporary Piano Works
CD Naxos 8.557676 (2003) Luigi Dallapiccola: Complete Works for Violin and Piano, and for Piano
CD Fonè 2049 (2000) Goffredo Petrassi: Complete Piano Works

References

External links

[http://www.robertoprosseda.com/ Official Roberto Prosseda webpage]
[http://www.koruartists.com/roberto-prosseda.html Koru Artists agency page on Roberto Prosseda]
[http://www.artistsinternational.com/roberto_prosseda.html Artists International Management agency page on Prosseda]
[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/gcmr/2011/00000030/F0020003/art00010 Prosseda, Roberto, 'Aldo Clementi: The Works for Solo Piano'. Contemporary Music Review, Volume 30, Numbers 3-4, 1 June 2011 , pp. 299-315, Routledge]
[http://www.classicfm.com/music-news/latest-news/roberto-prosseda-resurrects-pedal-piano/ "Roberto Prosseda resurrects the Pedal-Piano!". Classic FM page (undated, presumed from 2011)]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HELxh1-diuA YouTube video, Alkan: Prélude op. 66 n. 4 pour piano-pédalier, Roberto Prosseda performance, 4 June 2012, Teatro Olimpico]
[http://www.radio3.rai.it/dl/radio3/programmi/PublishingBlock-4e02a2ec-4046-486f-b7b2-54b8a5ab86ab-podcast.html RAI Radio 3, Lezioni di Musica podcast archive]
[http://www.universalmusic.it/classica/news/newsdet.php?idn=4871 "'Piano con fuoco' vince il premio 'Supersonic'", Universal Music Italia, 28 February 2013 (Italian language page)]
[http://www.universalmusic.it/classica/news/newsdet.php?idn=2459 "'Mendelssohn Discoveries' Trionfa in Francia", Universal Music Italia, 4 November 2009 (Italian language page)]
[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60329946 OCLC World Catalog page, Antonio Salieri editions edited by Prosseda]

Category:Italian male classical pianists

Category:Italian male pianists

Category:Living people

Category:Pedal piano players

Category:1975 births

Category:21st-century Italian classical pianists

Category:21st-century Italian male musicians