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Alfonso Soldano, an expert in Russian music, particularly the works of Rachmaninoff and Bortkiewicz, is soon to release a captivating collection of new piano transcriptions showcasing Rachmaninoff’s genius. This time, he unveils reimagined versions of Rachmaninoff’s iconic pieces, such as the mesmerizing “Adagio” (from Symphony No. 2), often hailed as Rachmaninoff’s masterpiece, and the enchanting “Love… Night” (from Suite No. 1), originally composed for two pianos but now reborn as exquisite solo piano transcriptions. With a keen understanding of the piano’s inherent capabilities, Soldano skillfully captures the essence of various instruments, employing a single piano to express their diverse roles, while staying true to the instrument’s unique character.
Foreword by Alfonso Soldano
The transcription, as well as the paraphrase, can be conceived not as intellectual borrowings or mere transpositions, but, in the most cultured sense, as compositions that have a life of their own. Playing piano music, originally conceived for different instrumental recipients (orchestra, chamber ensembles, vocals, operas), it is an invention that is equally crucial to that of black and white photography; in fact, before the advent of this latest technology, there was no way to deepen something like the works of art in a museum, far to reach. And in any case, even the black and white photography, while not being able to restore the expressiveness of the original circuit, the colors, was perfectly able to give a large percentage of fidelity to the features of the desired work. The transcription offers all this in the same way: technologically more advanced machines give better information about the image in the photo, more personal vein, stylistic and instrumental knowledge give better information than the original music in the transcription, up to, in rare cases, to become parallel reality and valid compared to the original itself (the transcription of La valse by Maurice Ravel, for two pianos for example).
Alfonso Soldano
A pianist renowned for his innate virtuosity, skills and sophisticated stylistic knowledge, ALFONSO SOLDANO was born in 1986 and at a young age attained the Distinguished Degree with Honor Mention in Piano Performance at Conservatory “ N. Piccinni “ in Bari, Italy. His mentors throughout his artistic growth were Aldo CICCOLINI and Pierluigi CAMICIA. Mr. Soldano also obtained the High Performance Diploma at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, under Benedetto LUPO. He was awarded first place in a number of piano competitions and has been invited to participate as Artist and Juror in Italy and all over Europe. Mr. Soldano holds master classes all over Italy and was awarded with the International Gold Medal Prize for Best Italian Artist in April 2013 in a large ceremony in the Great Hall at Sapienza Università di Roma. At the young age of 17, Mr. Saldano was involved in the production of the complete works of Rachmaninov for piano and orchestra with the Bacau Philarmonic Orchestra (Romania). He has collaborated with the conductors O.Balan, D.Frandes, M.Cormio, and V.Zhadko, and performed with many orchestras in Italy and throughout Europe and beyond.
