July 25, 2008
ASIAGO FESTIVAL 42nd Edition
FORTY-SECOND ASIAGOFESTIVAL:
FROM AUG. 7 TWO WEEKS OF GREAT MUSIC DATES. ROBERTO BRAZZALE EXPLAINS THE INSPIRING MOTIVES
After a successful prologue on Saturday, July 26, with I Cantori Gregoriani conducted by Fulvio Rampi, a remarkable new season of music on the Plateau comes into full swing on Thursday, Aug. 7 (at 9 p.m. at the Asiago Church of San Rocco) with Asiagofestival, an event now in its 42nd year. It will be a String Trio made up of the violin of the young and talented Anna Tifu, the viola of Riszard Groblewski and the cello of Claudio Pasceri (with music by Schubert, Meyer and Beethoven) to kick off two tight weeks of appointments with great music offered strictly in- gress free by the Associazione Amici della Musica di Asiago named after Fiorella Benetti Brazzale.
Thus are renewed the charm and originality of a musical and cultural proposal of great quality, whose long history is testimony, in itself, to a value recognized both by the artists who participate each year with great enthusiasm and generosity, and by a demanding and loyal audience. And it also reaffirms, thus, the inspirational motives of the event conceived and desired by the multifaceted musician from Asiago Fiorella Benetti Brazzale, who in the 1960s began to invite to Asiago some of the best organs of international renown to compose posters initially focused on organ and sacred music but then increasingly eclectic ranging in chamber and contemporary music. Motives and objectives that, after four decades of success, continue to reside first and foremost in the aims of defending and spreading musical culture and that since 1992, the year of Benetti Brazzale’s passing, have been inherited by the Cultural Association Friends of Music of Asiago named after her and chaired by her son, Roberto Brazzale.
“It is true that this Festival,” Brazzale explains, “is experienced by me and my family almost as a civic duty, a tribute to music and to the city of Asiago lived with passion also by artistic director Julius Berger and Matthias Mayr in setting up a program schedule capable of placing side by side big names and young talents, unpublished works and universally known masterpieces, Italian and foreign artists, and, I am particularly proud to point out, this year features as many as two world premieres of works commissioned by Asiagofestival from Polish composer Krzysztof Meyer (who became very famous in 1983 for completing the opera “I Giocatori” left unfinished by Dmitri Shostakovich) and composer Giovanni Bonato from Vicenza. Both will be featured at the festival.”
“We share the mission to promote art music and its unrepeatable richness,” Brazzale continues, “and to offer its transfiguring and consoling function to the public. However, we know we are swimming against the tide: young people are in fact kept away from contact with the beauty of music. Rigorous and “difficult” language cannot but be banished by the dominant pedagogical culture, sloppy and trivializing. It is a crime that has many perpetrators, but to which we do not resign ourselves by making our contribution.” Roberto Brazzale, although he followed an academic course of study in organ and composition , did not choose music as a job but, as a lawyer who is also involved in social and economic life, he approaches the musical world with professionalism and dedication as a “sui generis” organizer. He has no illusions about the possibility of reconciling art music and economic results, so he considers the patronage of fans to be fundamental, “Without forgetting,” he explains, “that a sponsor can benefit greatly from being present in such image-qualifying activities.”
It is no coincidence that Asiagofestival is made possible by private sponsors and volunteers; for many years, in fact, it has not drawn on any public contributions, except what comes from the municipality of Asiago. But the activity does not stop on the plateau: the support of sponsors and the fondness that has bound numerous artists, in fact, has made possible not only the continuity of the Festival but also the birth of Asiagofestival-Korea, which is held every year in Seoul, the organization of numerous concerts in the Czech Republic.
In addition, there are frequent publishing activities including recently a singular CD, “The Birth of Cello,” made by Julius Berger and which will also be presented during the Festival on August 14.
Initiative that helps to make Asiagofestival a singular experience within the many music festivals that every summer offers, sometimes only for a few years…. A true and reference point for artists and enthusiasts who, for as many as 42 editions, know that they can find in Asiago music of excellence and internationally renowned artists to meet without any ticket and in that direct atmosphere free of formalisms that a charming resort town can confer even to the most “high” music. Sofia Gubaidu- lina, a guest composer in 2006, left written in the guest book, ” In this resort I feel a special inspiration arise, naturally and easily…When you meet the people I met here in Asiago, only then can I still believe in the future.”
Info: 0424.464081 (Municipality of Asiago Tourism Office) – www.asiagofestival.it
Attached images: ANNA TIFU, who will play at AsiagoFestival on Aug. 7, and Ro- berto Brazzale, president of Associazione Amici della Musica di Asiago
Press info: Marina Grasso, cell. 335.8223010
THE PROGRAM OF ASIAGOFESTIVAL
Thursday, August 7, 9 p.m. – ASIAGO – Church of S.Rocco
String Trio
Violin: Anna Tifu
Viola: Riszard Groblewski Cello: Claudio Pasceri
music by: Schubert, Meyer, Beethoven
Saturday, August 9, 9 p.m. – ASIAGO – Church of S.Rocco Piano: Pietro De Maria
Music by : Chopin
Sunday, Aug. 10,
10:30 a.m. Council Chamber of City Hall
“MEETING WITH COMPOSER KRZYSZTOF MEYER” 9 p.m. – S.Rocco Church
Piano:Pietro De Maria
Violin: Maddalena Reszler
Violin: Anna Tifu
Cello: Julius Berger
Music by: Krzysztof Meyer
first performance of the duo for 2 violins
Tuesday, Aug. 12, 9 p.m. – ASIAGO – Church of S.Rocco piano:Pietro De Maria
violin:Magdalena Reszler
cello:Julius Berger
music by: Schubert