Ritornello

 On his latest Navona Records release, RITORNELLO, composer and pianist Curt Cacioppo revisits the beloved country of Italy, recalling places, friends, Italian tales, Don Giovanni, and more to create a detailed sonic story about his experiences and Italian heritage. 

The three movements of Divertimenti in Italia reflect on different regions of Italy: the town of Alberobello and its unique conical dwellings called trulli; the culture and mountainous terrain of northern Italy; and the musical air of Catania in Sicily. Dalle Dolomiti All’ Etna: Schizzi Pianistici D’Italia, a group of seven piano pieces, not only illustrates various parts of the Italian landscape, but makes reference to stories such as Dante’s Inferno in “Nel mezzo del cammin” and presents a musical parody of an aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni in “Burlesca.” Women at the Cross is a collection of depictions of women who are significant in the Passion of Jesus Christ, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, and Veronica, the woman who wiped Jesus’ face. 

Curt Cacioppo is currently a professor of music at Haverford College and devotes his energies to playing music of his contemporaries. As a collaborative pianist, Cacioppo has concertized with the Quartetto di Venezia, members of the Guarneri String Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National and Boston symphonies, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and many more.