Events

Francesco Dillon (cello) and Emanuele Torquati (piano)

"The two performers succeed masterfully" —Il Corriere Musicale

"Dillon and Torquati gave a warm and fluent performance... [a] perfect balance of delicacy and momentum." —Il Giornale della Musica

Anticipating the 250th anniversary of his birth, the Italian Academy presents Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano performed by two of Italy's finest musicians, cellist Francesco Dillon and pianist Emanuele Torquati, who appear and record often as a duo.

Each recital will also feature the premiere of a work for cello and piano. 

All events begin at 7 PM.

FRANCESCO DILLON, cello
EMANUELE TORQUATI, piano

Francesco Dillon (b.Turin, 1973) has performed as a soloist at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal of Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Jordan Hall in Boston, and the Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires, with such orchestras as the Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI), the SWR Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna, the Orchestra of the Colon Theatre, Ensemble Resonanz,the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra,the Oulu Sinfonia Finland,the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tuscany Regional Orchestra (ORT). Most recently he made an acclaimed debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, conducted by Susanna Mallki.

Having graduated in Florence under the guidance of Andrea Nannoni, he continued his studies with Anner Bijlsma, Mario Brunello, David Geringas and Mstislav Rostropovich, thereafter studying composition with Salvatore Sciarrino. In 1993 he was one of the founders of the Quartetto Prometeo, a chamber group of international acclaim and winner of numerous prizes (Prague Spring, ARD Munich, Bordeaux) and recently honored with the Leone d’Argento award of the Biennale Musica of Venice. Dillon is also a stable member of the Alter Ego ensemble which is regularly invited to major contemporary music festivals. His passion for chamber music has led to performances with musicians such as Irvine Arditti, Mario Brunello, Giuliano Carmignola, Piero Farulli, David Geringas, Veronika Hagen, Alexander Lonquich, Enrico Pace, and Jean-Guihen Queyras. The profound interest in contemporary music which he has always cultivated has led to solid collaborations with major composers of our time: Gavin Bryars, Ivan Fedele, Luca Francesconi, Stefano Gervasoni, Philip Glass, Vinko Globokar, Sofija Gubaidulina, Jonathan Harvey, Toshio Hosokawa, Giya Kancheli, Alexander Knaifel, Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, Alvin Lucier, Arvo Pärt, Henri Pousseur, Steve Reich, Fausto Romitelli, Kaija Saariaho, Salvatore Sciarrino, and John Zorn.

Dillon's performances have been transmitted by such broadcasters as the BBC, RAI, ARD, Radio France, ORF, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and WDR. He has recorded for the ECM label, as well as Sony, Kairos, Ricordi, Stradivarius, Die Schachtel, Mode, and Touch. He recently recorded for the first time, Variations by Salvatore Sciarrino which received the Diapason d’Or prize, and Ballata by Giacinto Scelsi, both with the Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI). As a duo with the pianist Emanuele Torquati, he has brought out three CDs of rare music of Schumann and the complete works for cello by Franz Liszt for Brilliant Classics. Along with his concert activity there have been teaching experiences in institutions such as the Royal College of London, the Scuola di musica di Fiesole, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, the Pacific University in California, Untref-Buenos Aires, Manchester University. Since 2010 he has been artistic director of the contemporary music festival Music@villaromana in Florence.

Emanuele Torquati is rapidly gaining international recognition for his poetic and passionate music making, communicative performances and engaging programming. He has been hailed as “a thoughtful musician and a champion of contemporary music” by the New York Times and as “a vibrant pianist, excellent overall” by the Boston Globe. His flourishing career has taken him to some of Europe, Canada, America and Africa’s most illustrious venues, in such diverse cities as Addis Abeba, Buenos Aires (Teatro Colon), San Francisco, Toronto, Banff, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Boston, Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, Berlin, Leipzig, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow, Munich, Graz, Ljubljana, Kiev and Oslo.

His concerts have been broadcasted by RAI, BBC Radio3, Deutschland Radiokultur, MDR Kultur, Radio France, Swiss RSI, RTE Lyric and Euroradio. As a soloist he has performed with such Orchestras as Italian National Radio Orchestra (RAI), Lithuanian National Symphony, Buenos Aires Philarmonics, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Tuscany Regional Orchestra (ORT), and Haydn Orchester Bozen. A notable performer of new music and an avid chamber musician, he was artist in residence at The Banff Centre with the project “Voyage Messiaen” in 2008 and in 2010 with “Intimate Sketches: Visions on Leos Janàcek”, and recently at the IIC Paris within the program “Les Promesses de l’Art”.

His first recording, “Promenade sentimentale”, devoted to the Complete Piano Music of Albert Roussel has been followed by the Complete Piano Music by Alexander Zemlinsky for Brilliant Classics. In 2017 a new album “The Vale of Dreams: Charles Griffes Piano Music” was released. With cellist Francesco Dillon, he recorded 3 Cds with Schumann rarities and the Complete Works by Franz Liszt. A new CD with Brahms rarities (Sonata n. 1 op. 78, Hungarian Dances and Lieder) was released in 2018.

Torquati has worked intensively with leading composers including Salvatore Sciarrino, Sylvano Bussotti, Wolfgang Rihm, Kaija Saariaho, Beat Furrer, Jonathan Harvey, Brett Dean, Thomas Larcher, Magnus Lindberg, and Peter Ablinger, and he has collaborated with among others Isabel Charisius, Matthias Pintscher, Michael Gielen, Marisol Montalvo, Garth Knox, Susanne Linke, Inon Barnatan, and Prometeo String Quartet. The recipient of several international awards, Torquati has been supported by institutions such as CEMAT, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, DAAD Bonn, Ambassade de France en Italie, Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Graz, Ensemble Modern, and The Banff Centre. He has been invited to give masterclasses within several universities and conservatories in Italy and abroad, at New York University, Boston University, University of La Plata and Universidad Popular de Còrdoba (Argentina), Trinity College Dublin, and Southampton University. He is currently Professor at State Conservatory “G. F. Ghedini” in Cuneo.

Torquati was born in Milan in 1978. His most influential teachers were Giancarlo Cardini and Konstantin Bogino. He also worked closely with Alexander Lonquich, Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, Ian Pace, Michael Wendeberg. He went on to specialize in Chamber Music first with Franco Rossi (Quartetto Italiano), then he achieved a Master Degree at the International Chamber Music Academy of the Trio di Trieste. Since 2010, he’s the artistic director of music@villaromana for German institution Villa Romana

The recitals are free and open to the public. First-come, first-seated.