The inaugural concert of the Modern Composers International Music Festival (ModComFest), titled 'Two Voices, One Flame', is set to take place on 14 September at the Teatro Marrucino in Chieti, one of Italy's oldest and most iconic theatres. The diverse line-up features a selection of captivating pieces, including Giuseppe Tartini's "Devil's Trill" Sonata, Op. 1, No. 4; the festival dedicatee Michel Petrossian's "Stilleven" for solo violin; and the world premiere of his "Armenian Rock" for violin and piano. Also featured are Roman Kim's "Cry of the Soul", "Romance in B", "Romance in G", and his "I Brindisi — Introduction and Variations on Themes from La Traviata by G.Verdi", Op. 4 for violin and piano; Niccolò Paganini's 'La Campanella' from Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 7; and Alexey Shor/Mikhail Pletnev's Sonata for violin and piano in B minor.
This recital features virtuoso violinist Roman Kim, acknowledged as one of the most innovative violinists of our time, and acclaimed Italian pianist Giuliano Mazzoccante. Together, they pay homage to Petrossian's ability to blend ancient civilisations with avant-garde soundscapes.
Programme
Guiseppe Tartini
Sonata op.1 n. IV in sol
''Il Trillo del diavolo''
1. Larghetto ma non troppo
2. Allegro moderato
3. Andante
4. Allegro assai — Andante — Allegro assai
Michel Petrossian
„Stilleven"
for violin solo
„Armenian Rock“
for violin solo
Roman Kim
„Valse pour Ana“
for violin and piano
Niccolò Paganini
"God save the king" for Violin Solo
– I N T E R M I S S I O N –
Alexey Shor - Mikhail Pletnev
Sonata for violin and pino in B minor
1. Allegro agitato
2. In modo di Minuet
3. Presto
Roman Kim
„Romance in B“
for violin and piano
„Romance in Ges“
for violin and piano
"I Brindisi“
Introduction and Variations on Themes from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, Op. 4 for violin and piano
(Dedicated to Niccolò Paganini)
Roman Kim
Violin
Roman Kim is internationally acknowledged as one of the most innovative violinists of our time. He has been constantly contributing to the evolution of violin playing technique, expanding the boundaries of what – some years ago – had been considered impossible by even the best violinists in the world.
International career
When, in 2010, he published a video on YouTube, performing his transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's Air from the Orchestral Suite No. 3, the then 19-year-old caused a sensation. The fact that he was playing all four parts of the score on a single violin amazed experts and famous violinists. Ever since, his fresh and unconventional approach to classical music has been applauded by audiences all over the world. After winning the International Violin Competition "Valsesia Musica" (2012), Kim played concerts in Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Russia, USA, China, South Korea, Romania, Switzerland and Taiwan. Among others, he appeared in auditoriums such as the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Herkulessaal, the Beijing Concert Hall, the Bari Teatro Petruzzelli, the Seoul Arts Centre, the Franz List Music Academy Budapest and the Taipei National Concert Hall. He performed with orchestras like the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Aachen Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli, the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Aziz Shokhakimov, Dirk Kaftan, Josep Caballé Domenech, Daejin Kim, Alexandre Bloch and Alpesh Chauhan.
Composing soloist inspired by the past
As a soloist, Roman Kim is especially devoted to the works of Niccolò Paganini, fighting against the prejudice of Paganini's compositions being merely superficial virtuoso show pieces. Resuming the great and old tradition of composing soloists, Roman Kim is also a performer of his own compositions. In 2015, he started a close collaboration with the renowned German music publisher "Bärenreiter". The first edition of Kim's arrangement of Bach's Air was sold out within a few months. Roman Kim's music is romantic, tonal and melodic. While it reminds of the the great composers of the 19th century, his music is also highly original, due to his technical innovations that allow him to create absolutely astonishing sounds. Roman Kim's paraphrases "I Brindisi" on themes by Italian opera composer Verdi strengthened his reputation as a modern Paganini. Inspired by Arcangelo Corelli's “La Folia”, Kim proposed his own approach to the famous musical theme that inspired so many composers of the past.
Combining musical brilliance and spiritual depth
In April 2017, Roman Kim's "Three Romances" for violin and piano were published by "Bärenreiter". The same year, his debut album “Kimpossible” was released by Sony Classical and
received with enthusiasm by critiques around the globe. One of Kim's latest works is an arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Piano Concerto in d-Minor. It does not only translate Bach's orchestral music to the solo violin, but also disposes of a cadenza that Kim composed for this version. In 2019, Roman Kim published his arrangement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”. During the last two years, Roman Kim worked on his “Requiem”. The expressive large scale composition for solo violin was inspired by Gregorian chants and the Roman Catholic Mass for the dead. The movements follow the traditional liturgical form, combining musical brilliance and spiritual depth. The “Requiem” should have been inaugurated in Hiroshima, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city. However, the event had to be postponed due to the 2020 pandemic.
Pupil of Galina Turchaninova
Born in Kazakhstan into a family of Korean-Tatar-Belarussian descent, Kim started to play the violin at the age of five. Only three years later, he went to Moscow to attend the class of Galina Turchaninova who, as a professor at the Moscow Central Music School, taught many famous violinist like Maxim Vengerov. In 2008, Roman Kim was accepted, aged 16, at the Musikhochschule Cologne, where he studied with Prof. Viktor Tretyakov. Roman Kim currently lives in Cologne and studies composition at the local conservatory. He plays a violin he designed himself. The instrument was created in 2015 at the workshop of master violin maker Alexander Hazin (Cologne) and named „Superior".
Giuliano Mazzoccante
Piano
Born in Chieti, he studied under the guidance of Lucia Passaglia at the Conservatory "L. Cherubini" in Florence graduating with highest honours. He participated as a student performer on a three-year piano perfection course at the “Accademia Musicale Umbra” where he achieved a "Diploma of Excellence”.
Later, he participated in the "International Master Classes" in Klaipeda (Lithuania), held by Lazar Berman. With him, his concert repertoire deepened and improved with particular attention to the music of F. Liszt, at the European Academy of Music, Erba (CO). He perfected Chamber Music at the International School of Chamber Music in Duino under the guidance of "Trio of Trieste" achieving a "Diploma with Merit". He has won national and international competitions, including "M. Clementi" in Florence, “Agorà 80" in Rome, "F. Liszt" in Lucca, and "Città di Stresa". In 1997 he won second prize at the 'T. I. M. " - International Music Tournament; in 1998, he was awarded the prestigious "Prix Venice"; in 1999 he won second prize at the international competition "Ecomusic" of Monopoli (BA); in 2002 was the winner of the 40th International Piano Competition "Arcangelo Speranza" in Taranto. In 2009 he was awarded in the “4th International Tbilisi Piano Competition" in Georgia (WFIMC).
His musical experience has been enriched by important collaborations as a pianist in the Classical Dance, and in Opera Theatre, collaborating with teachers of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Academy of Dance of London, Teatro dell’Opera of Paris. In addition, for several years he worked in the Teatro dell'Opera of Chieti deepening the Opera literature and working as a pianist with important international singers and theatrical directors.
Considerable concert activity has seen him engaged both as a soloist and as a chamber musician at major Italian venues and overseas such as, Milan (Teatro Dal Verme, Casa Verdi), Rome (Palazzo Venezia, Instituto Cervantes), L'Aquila (Teatro Comunale), Trieste (Teatro Verdi, Museo Revoltella), Bologna (Sala Mozart della Filarmonica, Sala Bossi del Conservatorio), Perugia (Sala dei Notari), Venice (Palazzo Albrizzi), Chiavari (Teatro Cantero), Alessandria (Teatro Parvum), Salerno (Sala Napolitano), Rovigno (Croatia), Szombathely (Hungary), Klaipeda, Palanka (Lithuania), Schloss Elmau, Weimar "Liszt House", Munich "Prinzregenten" Theatre", Cologne "Hochshule" (Germany), Brno "Sale Bretislava Bakaly" (Czech Republic), Istanbul (Turkey), Utrecht "Concert Hall" (Netherlands), Oxford "Holywell Music Room" (England), Tel Aviv, Ashdod (Israel), Schaffusen, Gstaad (Switzerland), Shanghai (China), La Valletta "Emmanuel Theatre" (Malta). He is regularly invited to hold concerts and master classes at international festivals such as "ClaviCologne Festival" in Germany, the "Malta International Music Festival", the "International Piano Festival & Competition" in Italy, the “Vipa Festival” in Spain, ecc.
He has been a regular guest of the "International Sommer-Akademie Schloss Pommersfelden" (Germany) where he has performed as a soloist and in chamber music performances and and where he teaches chamber music from 2010. He has appeared as a soloist with different such Camerata Baltica, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonica Abruzzese, Sinfonica di Lecce, Sinfonica di Bari, Solisti Aquilani.
He is often invited to be part of the jury in national and international piano competitions in Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Malta, ecc.
He plays with musicians of calibre like Karl Leister (historical 1st clarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic), Pavel Berman, Francesco Manara and Franco De Angelis (first violinists of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan), Grazia Raimondi, Antonio Tinelli, Rita D'Arcangelo, Gaetano Di Bacco and Liliana Bernardi. He is the pianist of “Trio DOROGI” with the famous musicians Dora Schwarzberg (violin) and Romain Garioud (cello).
His conspicuous record productions range from solo repertoires, chamber music and to a soloist with an orchestra, including recordings for Wide Classique, DAD Records, Camerata Tokyo, Radio Vatican, Radio Bavaria etc. The monographic CD dedicated to J. Brahms, containing the sonates for clarinet and piano op. 120 No. 1 and no. 2 and the Trio op. 114, Published by Phoenix Classics and distributed by Ducale Music, became a finalist at the IMAIE awards 2009 and was reviewed with acclaim by specialised Italian and overseas magazines (Musica, Suonare News, Giornale della Musica, Fanfare and The Clarinet).
From 2012 he has been an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Subiaco (Rome) and in 2014 he was awarded from the Rotary Club of Pescara West with the "Paul Harris Fellow" for commitment in spreading music and its culture.
From 2015 he is the founder and Artistic Director of the Music and Art International Music Academy in Chieti which aims at promoting young artists and the development of the arts.
From 2017 he is the artistic director of the Concert Season of Teatro Marrucino in Chieti.
From 2019 he is the Artistic Director of "In Musica" International Music Festival and Piano Competition in Rome - Italy.