Luca Pianca
Encyclopedia
Luca Pianca is a Swiss musician-lutenist whose specialty is archlute
. In 1985 he co - founded Il Giardino Armonico
, a pioneering Italian early-music ensemble based in Milan
. He has premiered works by the contemporary lutenist-composer Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
at international festivals, and received numerous international awards for his recordings.
, Switzerland
of ethnic Italian ancestry. He studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt
at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, Austria
.
. He also served as a lutenist at Zurich
Opera House. In 1985 he was co-founder of Il Giardino Armonico (The Harmonic Garden), an Italian early-music ensemble that pioneered performances of many Baroque
and contemporary works.
Luca Pianca has recorded more than 20 CDs, both with and without Il Giardino Armonico
, including complete recordings of lute repertoire by J.S.Bach and Antonio Vivaldi
.
He has partnered with internationally known opera
singers and soloists such as Italian Cecilia Bartoli
, Eva Mei, and American Sylvia McNair
.
Since 1999, Pianca has teamed with viola da gamba player Vittorio Ghielmi
to record numerous CDs. Since 2001 he has also collaborated with the contemporary lutenist-composer Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
, whose works he premiered at several international festivals: Urbino
, Salamanca
, Paris
, and Vilnius
, inter alia.
Archlute
The archlute is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the theorbo...
. In 1985 he co - founded Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico is a pioneering Italian early music ensemble founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century music on period instruments....
, a pioneering Italian early-music ensemble based in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. He has premiered works by the contemporary lutenist-composer Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk is an American painter and lutenist-composer born in Ukraine.-Biography:Turovsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1961, when it was part of the Soviet Union. He studied art from an early age under his father, the painter Mikhail Turovsky and at the Shevchenko State Art School...
at international festivals, and received numerous international awards for his recordings.
Early life and education
Luca Pianca was born in LuganoLugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
of ethnic Italian ancestry. He studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Career
Since 1982 Pianca has collaborated with Concentus Musicus WienConcentus Musicus Wien
Concentus Musicus Wien is a baroque music ensemble founded by Nikolaus and Alice Harnoncourt in 1953. It generated the now well-established movement in performance and recordings to play early music on period instruments....
. He also served as a lutenist at Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
Opera House. In 1985 he was co-founder of Il Giardino Armonico (The Harmonic Garden), an Italian early-music ensemble that pioneered performances of many Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and contemporary works.
Luca Pianca has recorded more than 20 CDs, both with and without Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico
Il Giardino Armonico is a pioneering Italian early music ensemble founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century music on period instruments....
, including complete recordings of lute repertoire by J.S.Bach and Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
.
He has partnered with internationally known opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singers and soloists such as Italian Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her interpretation of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and classical music...
, Eva Mei, and American Sylvia McNair
Sylvia McNair
Sylvia McNair is an American opera singer and classical recitalist who has also achieved notable success in the Broadway and cabaret genres. McNair, a soprano, has made several critically acclaimed recordings and has won two Grammy Awards....
.
Since 1999, Pianca has teamed with viola da gamba player Vittorio Ghielmi
Vittorio Ghielmi
Gamba player, conductor, composer. Born in Milano, Italy, still very young he attracts notice for the intensity and versatility of his musical interpretation and for his new approach to the viol and to the sound of ancient music repertoire...
to record numerous CDs. Since 2001 he has also collaborated with the contemporary lutenist-composer Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk
Roman Turovsky-Savchuk is an American painter and lutenist-composer born in Ukraine.-Biography:Turovsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1961, when it was part of the Soviet Union. He studied art from an early age under his father, the painter Mikhail Turovsky and at the Shevchenko State Art School...
, whose works he premiered at several international festivals: Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, inter alia.
Honors and awards
- Five Diapason d'OrDiapason d'OrThe Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
, Diapason (Tuning Fork) magazine - Four Choc awards, Le Monde de la Musique magazine
- Gramophone AwardGramophone AwardThe Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
, 1996 (The GramophoneThe GramophoneGramophone is a magazine published monthly in London by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie...
magazine, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) - Deutscher SchallplattenpreisDeutscher SchallplattenpreisThe Deutscher Schallplattenpreis was a prize that the Deutsche Phono-Akademie awarded from 1963 through 1992. Its successor is the ECHO prize....
(German Record Award), 1998
Discography
- Bagpipes from Hell — Music for Viola da gamba, Lyra-viol, LuteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
and CeteroneCeteroneThe Ceterone was an enlarged and bass-extended cittern, the counterpart of the chitarrone as a development of the lute, which may have dated from the 1520s, but no firm evidence exists for it before the end of that century....
. 17th and 18th century, Vittorio GhielmiVittorio GhielmiGamba player, conductor, composer. Born in Milano, Italy, still very young he attracts notice for the intensity and versatility of his musical interpretation and for his new approach to the viol and to the sound of ancient music repertoire...
, Luca Pianca, 1999
- Pièces de caractère — Works by: MaraisMarin MaraisMarin Marais was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles...
, ForquerayAntoine ForquerayAntoine Forqueray was a French composer and virtuoso of the viola da gamba.Forqueray, born in Paris, was the first in a line of composers who included his brother Michel and his sons Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas Gilles...
, MoutonCharles MoutonCharles Mouton was a famous French lutenist and lute composer.There is only little information known about him. He was born probably in Rouen, studied probably with Denis Gaultier and early in his career, he worked at the court of the dukes of Savoy in Turin. In the 1660s, he taught lute Paris...
, Dollé, Caix d'Hervelois, De Visée, Vittorio Ghielmi, Luca Pianca, 2002
- Duo - German Music for Lute & Viol, Vittorio Ghielmi, Luca Pianca, 2005
- Devil's Dream, Ghielmi, Pianca, Gibelli, 2006