Some superb playing from Davide Ranaldi a student of Magarius and Romanovsky and recent winner of the prestigious Premio Venezia.
Thanks to Roma Tre and its enlightened artistic director we are able to hear these superb young talents in Rome in the Aula Magna or in the beautiful theatre of Villa Torlonia.
Hats off to Roma Tre for bringing in a superb new Fazioli concert grand for this series entitled :’Primavera Musicale in Aula Magna’.

Yet another series :’La Musica e una cosa Meravigliosa ‘ is fast overlapping at Villa Torlonia. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2022/01/17/giovanni-bertolazzi-in-rome-liszt-is-alive-and-well-at-teatro-di-villa-torlonia/
Adding to this is the Roma Tre Orchestra giving much needed opportunities to music graduates to gain valuable experience in ensemble playing.
Roma Tre thanks to Valerio and the president Roberto Pujia are offering unique opportunities to young musicians at the start of their career.
It is a pity that to continue streaming would have encountered prohibitive costs and so I and many others have not been able to frequent all their concerts as we could during the lockdown period.
However in the past few weeks I have been able to admire three of these young artists and will have time for a fourth on Friday at Villa Torlonia before flying back to the UK. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2022/04/07/sarah-giannetti-rome-debut-for-roma-3-pride-and-passion-of-chopin-and-beethoven/. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2022/04/18/michelle-candotti-ravishes-and-seduces-the-piano-for-rome-tre-young-artists-piano-solo-spring-series-in-aula-magna/
Hugh Mather ,a retired physician ,has a series at St Marys in Perivale that promotes three concerts a week for young musicians and he has his own retired professional technicians that are able to offer top class streaming but they do not promote an orchestra as here in Rome………yet!

On a wonderful summers day here in Rome I could enjoy a Roma Tre protogee Pietro Fresa playing in the UK and a couple of hours later Davide Ranaldi live in Rome.
More of Pietro Fresa in my next review but first I would like to express my astonishment at the performance of a Haydn Sonata by this young Italian musician. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/mozart-triumphs-at-torlonia-with-jonathan-ferrucci-pietro-fresa-sieva-borzak/
A performance of searing intensity and total commitment that from the very first noble outcry it was evident that we were in the presence of a master.
From the very first notes we were taken by storm and held in his hands until the final Presto.There was great authority and weight to his performance with a breathtaking rhythmic energy that held us captivated as he brought such character to each of the genial episodes of this still much underrated composer.There was a colour and sense of style that left no doubt about a great musical personality showing us the way.

It was interesting to see Davide as Kabos would say ‘all curled up like a croissant’ his head down in total concentration on every note that he played with animal like conviction.Was not Richter just as anti conventional as he attacked the piano with the same demonic energy and commitment? Even the Adagio had a beautiful full sound and there were great contrasts as he lived every moment of the drama that was unfolding.The Presto was played with enviable clarity and control.
To watch his high fingers seemingly pointing the way like a pointillist painter was to watch his teacher Romanovsky who had enthralled us in Rome recently with his complete Rachmaninov series. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2022/04/13/romanovsky-a-miracle-in-the-eternal-city-the-reincarnation-of-richter-and-rachmaninov/
The other two works in Davide’s recital were the Chopin Fantasie in F minor and the Liszt Sonata in B minor.

It was here that Davide’s great temperament and physical approach to the keyboard put a barrier between his emotional stylistic approach and the supreme musical intelligence that he showed in the Haydn Sonata.
It could lead to moments of great excitement and animal involvement and sometimes sublime discovery but at the price of loosing control and sometimes almost allowing the boat to subside.
Of course his great professionalism saw him through the moments of panic and the overall impression was of searing intensity and animal excitement.If you look more carefully,though,at the opening of the Liszt Sonata it is marked more piano and at the most forte and certainly not fortissimo .The rests too have great significance and in the great fortissimo recitativo later were completely overlooked.Details that in the Haydn were observed with the same temperament but with a microscopic control and intelligence that he forfeited in the Liszt and to a lesser extent in the Chopin for a self pleasing approach rather than that of a servant being at the service of the composer and the music.The Siloti Prelude in B minor was a fitting bridge to the Bach aria that he played as an encore where the simplicity,luminosity of sound and musical intelligence showed the supreme artistry of Davide in the classical repertoire and a maturity that I am sure he will bring to the romantic repertoire as his career progresses.