On December 8th, we will present "Disruptive Tradition" with works by Unsuk Chin and Sofia Gubaidulina in our 2nd subscription concert at the Stadtcasino Basel.
Alice Di Piazza, hailed by international critics as one of the most talented pianists of her generation, will not only be the soloist for the evening's performance of Gubaidulina's "Introitus," presenting her Chaconne for solo piano, but she also has a very special relationship with Gubaidulina. The revised 2016 version of the "Introitus," which will be performed in Basel on December 8th, is the result of close collaboration between the pianist and the composer.
We are very much looking forward to this collaboration and asked her a few questions to get to know her better.
1. How did you first come into contact with "classical music" and why have you been unable to let go of it?
I can't remember a single moment in my life without a piano. During my early years, I spent a lot of time with my paternal grandmother. She was a pianist. Every evening she would sit down at the piano, and I would sit mesmerized on her lap. I was so fascinated that I would place my little hands on hers while she played, to feel her movements on the keyboard. Until one day, my little hands were on the keyboard instead of hers... I was three years old then... and I haven't stopped playing since. To stop would be like "losing my voice," becoming mute.
2. You began studying piano at the age of three and later became interested in orchestral conducting, counterpoint, fugue, and composition. Did these studies open new horizons for you as a pianist? And if so, how did they influence your musical thinking?
As a child with few toys, I spent hours inventing musical stories on the piano, initially exploring the instrument's endless range of sounds and later creating simple melodies that defined the characters in my stories. I was young, 16, when I began taking composition lessons with the Sicilian composer Eliodoro Sollima. Studying counterpoint and fugue allowed me to delve deeper into the musical text, to better understand its inherent structure and texture. Conducting has not only enabled me to better "decode" the orchestral score but has also deepened my physical, embodied connection to sound.
3. The focus of our joint project is the work of Sofia Gubaidulina, with whom you have a very special connection. What fascinates you about her work and why?
What immediately moved me about Sofia's music is the profound spiritual content that permeates all of it. The powerful atmosphere of her works, the depth, the darkness, and simultaneously the light—a kind of spiritual light—captivate me deeply. All the symbolic meaning of the content of her music constantly influences the structural principles of her composition. It's so unique, so innovative.
4. If you hadn't become an artist, what would you have become?
Professor of Philosophy.
5. The Basel Sinfonietta has made it its mission to perform "music that reflects the spirit of the times" and to participate in social discourse through its programs. How can this be achieved from your perspective?
I have always viewed art, and music in particular, in its archaic sense of catharsis.
The social role of art is so fundamental that I can't find the right words to describe it. I regularly try to supplement my usual concert activities with projects of high social value, such as playing in prisons and hospitals, supporting organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Musique Esperance, or Mary's Meals...
