Moonlight Sonata: at the school of Pietro Rigacci.
A single slip of the tongue: the one who said that the second movement resembles a flower between two abysses was Liszt and not Berlioz.
Born in Florence, Pietro Rigacci descends from a family that boasts musicians for four generations. He graduated with top honors and praise at the "L. Cherubini" Conservatory of Florence, both in Piano, under the guidance of Maria Tipo, and in Composition, with Carlo Prosperi, obtaining the Teaching of Composition first at the Conservatory of Florence at only 22 years old, and since 1978 at the "L. Boccherini" Higher Institute of Musical Studies in Lucca.
His musical language has always distanced itself from the modernist and experimental trends typical of the second half of the 20th century, leading him in the '80s/'90s to focus on a brilliant concert career as a pianist, performing in the most important international concert halls (from London to Paris, Rome, Chicago, Moscow, often recording for the BBC), reserving a limited number of works for composition, mainly dedicated to chamber music. Significant is the success of "26 Evocations on women's names" for 26 different solo instruments, among which stands out "Claire" for vibraphone, commissioned by Swedish Radio in Stockholm, and subsequently performed at the Philharmonie Berlin, and in many other international concert halls.
Inspired by the French world of the early 1900s, Pietro Rigacci's expressive world is a refined fusion of delicate harmonies and melodies that evoke an impalpable and evanescent visionism, alternating moments of great lyricism with explosions of radiant solarity.
His compositions have been gaining great appreciation in recent years, to the point of having numerous works commissioned, among which notable are: "Four songs for Alice" for mezzo-soprano, percussion and piano (Swedish presidency of the EU in Brussels), the opera in 3 acts "A Midsummer Night's Dream" taken from the eponymous comedy by W. Shakespeare, performed in 2007 by the International Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, and the "Concerto for marimba and orchestra" (in the final stages of completion) which will have its absolute world premiere in 2011 in Germany with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra
