Feeling the Amore through Music

Demi HEWAMANNA

For some it's the history, for some it's the art, and then there is architecture, fashion and food. For the ones who love the sense of peace through picturesque sceneries, feeling the amore of summer cool weathers, sitting by the fountains as you throw pennies hoping for your wishes to come true...you know that Italy has so much more to offer every single person who steps into the country.

You know the best way to experience a place is to know it first hand by being there or bring a part of it to where you are. Well I had the chance to experience a little bit of Italy from two very fine, talented and charming Italian musicians who were down here to perform for a selected crowd in celebration of the country's national day.

Pianist Massimo Spada and clarinet player Claudio Cavallaro were flown down by the Italian Embassy together with the Taj Samudra Hotel to give Sri Lanka a feel of true Italian music, food and ambiance. Just before the two guys got together to perform for a selected group of invitees, I got the chance to catch up with them and talk to them about their feel in music, food and a little bit of everything.

Claudio Cavallaro who is an Honours student from Santa Cecilia Conservatory and began to learn about music when he was just 6 years old. He has played with musicians such as Vincenzo Mariozzi and specialized in playing important Italian classics plus Chamber music with Trio Bohm (flute, clarinet and basset horn). He also plays the piano and the violin.

Claudio also has worked with many orchestras such as Santa Cecilia's Conservatory Orchestra, Mozart Sinfonietta Orchestra, Giovani di Roma Orchestra, Franz Liszt youth Orchestra, conducted by Fabrizio Ventura, Alberto Zedda and Kazimierz Morski.

In his music studies he has graduated with a graduation thesis in music sociology. When his fingers are not busy with the clarinet, he gets them busy with writing as he is a journalist and works as a radio presenter and author of musical educational broadcasting. Cavallaro is also the creator and director of Giovaninconcerto - a music event that promotes young and upcoming artists. He is also a clarinet teacher at Eufonia Music Academy.

Claudio says that in his family, he is the only musician now. He also says with a giggle that his mum who is now 65 years old is learning to play the piano from him and sometimes he can be strict with her :). He also added that he has a niece - Angelica (15 years old) who he hopes will learn to love and be interested in music in the future. His girlfriend Danila is an architect and she also loves and appreciates music with him.

Massimo Spada who is just 26 years old, stepped into the world of musical when he was just 5 years old in love with the piano. He graduated from Santa Cecilia's Conservatory with Honours after learning from his maestro Pieralberto Biondi in 2005. He also graduated from Incontri con il maestro in Imola which is a well known Piano academy studying with maestros Boris Petrushansky and Riccardo Risaliti.

His very first concert was a solo performance in a school show and it was one very emotional moment for him, he says. Massimo also has a younger brother - Ricardo - who plays the violin and has performed with him in few concerts. His dad is an architect and his mum works at the Public Administration office. Massimo's girlfriend Sara is an Editor working with publishers.

Massimo and Claudio met each other four years ago, became good friends and decided one day to play together for family and friends. Their friends were awed by the performance that they decided to play in public and from there they began to play in various places such as in Norwegian Music Academy, at the Vatican City in front of his Holiness Benedetto XVI. They have travelled together to many places and have enthralled their audiences with their duets.

This is the first time they have travelled to the Asian region. They said that the trip from the airport to the hotel was long because of the traffic. To them it is a very hot country and it's wonderful. Massimo loves spicy food and loves cinnamon.

They also said that there is more to Italy than what meets the eye. The Americans look at Italy and think of pizza...but it's more than that. There is a story in every piece of art, sculpture, place and person.

The music they performed one week ago to some of the patrons were pieces from Gioacchino Rossini, Nina Rota, Aurlio Magnani and Alessio Elia. Rossini is known to be the Italian Mozart and was the greatest Italian composers. He wrote 39 operas including sacred music, chamber music, songs, instrumental music and more.

Nino Rota is an Italian composer best known for his work in films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy and receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1974.

Magnani is a clarinet performer and teacher who taught in Venice and Rome at the National Academy of Saint Cecilia. He was known to be the first clarinetist in Rome and Venice. Elia is a young Italian composer and pianist. His musical score - Sonata per la Rivolusion was commissioned to celebrate the 50 anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

All of the scores they played kept the audience wanting more and one could not tell that the time was passing by as they finished their last piece with the audience clapping away for their great treat and performance.