Pasquale Iannone

Considered as a virtuoso with extraordinary ability and a pianist of refined sensitiveness, ?Pasquale Iannone graduated cum laude in 1984 at the Bari ?N. Piccinni? Conservatory? and pursued further studies with Aldo Ciccolini, Marisa Somma. In 1987 he got the Diploma with honours at the Royal College of Music in London. From 1992 he has been associated with Eugenio Bagnoli at the Fondazione ?G. Cini? of Venezia. Mr Iannone has won several national competitions?and ?also several top Prizes in international as well such the ?A. Casella? (Naples 1989); ?Carlo Zecchi? (Rome 1991); ?Gina Bachauer? International Piano Competition (1994 Salt Lake City, USA); 1995 New Orleans International Piano Competition (1995 New Orleans, USA. In July 2003 he succeeded in the ?Web Concert Hall International Competition? (USA) winning both as a soloist and as a Piano Duo together with Paola Bruni. His repertoire choice is often unusual and looks for big virtuoso pieces such as the Liszt Transcription for piano of the Beethoven 7? Symphony, the Liszt Symphonic Poem ?Les Pr?ludes?, the great Paraphrases by Moritz Rosenthal on famous Johann Strauss themes. This, together with most of the Rachmaninov works performed in his career, gave him the chance to gain the appreciation of the critics and the warmest applauses from the audiences who listened to him. Pasquale Iannone has performed extensively in Italy for important concert associations. He has played as soloist with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia di Bari, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro Petruzzelli, Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia di Lecce, Orchestra ?A. Scarlatti? di Napoli, Orchestra Filarmonia Veneta and the Utah Symphony Orchestra in the United States. Among the conductors who led these orchestras there are the names of Rino Marrone, Michele Marvulli, Franco Caracciolo, Carlo Franci, Gianandrea Noseda, Jorge Mester. Many of Iannone?s performances have been broadcasted live by RAI (Italy) and KBYU (Provo,Utah). He has played? in USA, France, Scotland, Holland, Germany. In 1996 Mr Iannone made his debut as a soloist in South Africa where he played the Rachmaninov 3rd Concerto with the Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Carlo Franci and Reinhard Schwartz. In 1997 Pasquale Iannone has recorded two CDs : the first with a live performance of the Rachmaninov 3rd Concerto and the second with the two Brahms? piano Sonatas and the first two Studies. In 2000 he has recorded a CD with Tschaikowsky?s and Rachmaninov?s piano music sponsored by the prestigious ?G. Cini? Foundation of Venice which has been awarded as the best Italian Cd of the year and a CD of Chamber Italian music by V. Mortari together with the violinist Carmelo Andriani. He also plays with the spanish violinist Felix Ayo. Besides the soloist career, he plays as a Piano Duo (2 Pianos) with the pianist Paola Bruni with whom he had his debut in Seoul (South-Korea) in November 2001 and in Johannesburg (South Africa) with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra in August 2003. The Duo recorded a CD live of a recital that took place at the ?Teatro Massimo Bellini? in Catania and for the label ?Musicaimmagine? they recorded ?Oneiros? (Concerto for 2 Pianos, Symphonic Orchestra and electronic sounds dedicated to the Duo from the famous composer and conductor Carlo Franci),? a world premi?re performed in the theatre ?Piccinni? in Bari in September 2002. He taught Masterclasses in Italy, France, USA and South Korea. Recently he has been awarded of the ?Foyer 2005? Prize by the ?Foyer des Artistes? in Rome. "I remember Pasquale Iannone as a young man seated at the piano awaiting his entrance exam into my class at the International Accademy of Biella. As he played his first few pages, I immediately noticed his rare gifts as a pianist: the ample scale of his dynamics, the coherence of his interpretation free of low level mannerisms, technical precision. I immediately thought this boy would one day make people talk about himself. I don?t think I was wrong: Pasquale Iannone is at ease today with whatever difficulty he meets. With warmest affection I wish him the best success." ALDO CICCOLINI