Respighi: Piano Four Hands Giulio Biddau & Norberto Cordisco Respighi

• Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936): Fountains of Rome, P. 115:
• 1 I. The Valle Giulia Fountain at Daybreak 04:18
• 2 II. The Triton Fountain in the Morning 03:00
• 3 III. The Trevi Fountain at Midday 03:32
• 4 IV. The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset 05:05
• Pines of Rome, P. 142:
• 5 I. The Pines of Villa Borghese 03:03
• 6 II. The Pines Near a Catacomb 06:35
• 7 III. The Pines of the Janiculum 07:02
• 8 IV. The Pines of the Appian Way 04:52
• Antiche danze ed arie per liuto (Ancient Airs and Dances), Suite No. 1, P. 116:
• 9 I. Balletto detto Il Conte Orlando 02:46
• 10 II. Gagliarda 03:43
• 11 III. Villanella 05:25
• 12 IV. Passo mezzo e Mascherada 04:11
• Antiche danze ed arie per liuto (Ancient Airs and Dances), Suite No. 2, P. 139:
• 13 I. Laura soave - Balletto con Gagliarda, Saltarello e Canario 03:55
• 14 II. Danza Rustica 04:07
• 15 III. Companae Parisienses - Aria 05:59
• 16 IV. Bergamasca 04:40
• Total Runtime 01:12:13

Info for Respighi: Piano Four Hands

The symphonic poems Fountains of Rome (performed for the first time 100 years ago) and Pines of Rome of the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi whisk us to the Eternal City for a unique journey between the flowing water of its famous fountains and some of its most legendary sites.

Thanks to the Suites n°1 and n°2 of Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute we can travel back in time to discover once again Italian and French music of the 16th and 17th centuries reinterpreted by Respighi.

The pianists Giulio Biddau & Norberto Cordisco Respighi, a member of the Respighi family, provide an accurate performance that highlights the poetry and the enthusiasm of the scores, transcribed for piano duo by Respighi himself.

Giulio Biddau, piano
Norberto C. Respighi, piano

Giulio Biddau
Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1985, Giulio Biddau took up the piano at the age of twelve with Arlette Giangrande Eggman (a pupil of Dinu Lipatti and Nikita Magaloff) at the Cagliari Conservatory, and with Boris Petrushansky in Genoa. He then moved to Paris to attend classes with Jean-Marc Luisada at the École Normale de Musique, where he obtained his Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste. In 2007 he continued his studies at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, and for the past two years, he has been coached by Aldo Ciccolini, whom he meets regularly in Naples and Paris.

Giulio Biddau has won several international competitions, including the Casagrande Competition in Terni, the Iturbi Competition in Valencia, the Porrino Competition in Cagliari. In September 2009 he won first prize at the Concours international des Nuits Pianistiques – Lauréats SPEDIDAM in Aix-en-Provence, as a result of which he has been invited to take part in some of the most important festivals in France, including the Festival de Radio France-Montpellier, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and Piano en Valois in Angoulême.

He has given many concerts in Europe, playing for such institutions as the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, the Dino Ciani Festival in Cortina, the William Walton Foundation of Ischia, the Villa Medici in Rome; in France he has played at the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Grand Theatre de Provence in Aix, and in Pontoise, Nancy, Rouffach, Gerberoy; in Spain, at the Palau de la Musica of Valencia and Leon; in Sweden, at the Berwaldhallen, Stockholm; and in Slovenia, Austria, etc.

He has appeared with orchestras including that of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Orquesta del Palau de la Musica in Valencia, the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Les Siècles, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese… under Lawrence Foster, Francois-Xavier Roth, Tan Dun, Max Bragado…

As a chamber musician Giulio Biddau plays in duo with the violinist Anna Tifu and he works with singers Lisa Visentin and Alessandra Martirossyan.

His repertoire includes many composers of the second half of the twentieth century, including Ligeti, Gubaidulina and Dutilleux, and he is also committed to contemporary music. In March 2010 he gave the first performance of The Banquet Concerto for piano, orchestra and chorus by Tan Dun at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with the composer conducting. The concert was broadcast by RAI Radio Tre. He has also played for France Musique and for Japanese television, NHK.

Norberto Cordisco Respighi
A member of the Respighi family, Norberto Cordisco Respighi began learning the piano at the age of six, with Walter Orsingher. He obtained his conservatoire diploma at the Higher Institute of Musical Studies « Rinaldo Franci » of Siena, in the class of Norberto Capelli. Living in Paris since 2006, he continued his studies at the Ecole normale de musique, with Véronique Bonnecaze and in private lessons with Aldo Ciccolini and Jean-Marc Luisada. He performs in France and elsewhere, for organisations and in festivals.

Musicologist, he regular gives lectures, notably in France (Philharmonie de Paris), Canada (Montreal Symphony Orchestra) and in Italy. He is the author of the first French-language biography of Ottorino Respighi, the publication of which, by Bleu Nuit Éditeur, is scheduled for early 2018.

Alongside his musical studies, Norberto Cordisco Respighi obtained a master’s degree in finance and strategy, at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. He’s currently a senior member of Corporate Financial Structuring, a team that works directly for the BNP Paribas Group General Management.

Booklet for Respighi: Piano Four Hands