Giovanni Umberto Battel
BIO:Giovanni Umberto Battel, born in the province of Venice, began his piano's studies when he was four years old, under the guidance of his father Camillo, pianist and composer, and graduated with full marks and honors and honorable mention at the "G. Tartini" Conservatory in Trieste, under the direction of M° Luciano Gante. Under pianist Lya De Barberiis he obtained, with full marks and honors, the post-graduate diploma at the "Accademia di Santa Cecilia" in Roma. In the meantime, having an education in classical studies, Battel took a degree in musicology, with full marks and honors, at Bologna University and published articles on the new methodologies of performing analysis. When he was twenty, Battel obtained the Piano Chair and has taught at Conservatory of Trieste, Venice and Padua. From November 1st 1997 to October 31st 2009 has been Director of the “Benedetto Marcello”, the Conservatory of Venice. Between 1974 and 1979 he won five important national piano competitions (Osimo, La Spezia, Triste, Taranto, Albenga) connected with the main Italian concert societies. Between 1978 and 1982 he won prizes in seven international piano competition, proving his value in different places and times, it is enough to mention the first prizes in Stresa and in Enna and other prizes won at “Pozzoli”, at “Viotti” and at “Busoni” competitions. After his début as a soloist in 1976 for Venice's theatre "La Fenice" and his first performance with orchestra in 1980 at the Sanremo theatre, he has given many concerts in Italy. Since 1986 Battel has also played in France (Paris, Bergues, Bondues, Bourbourg, Briançon, Chateneauneuf du Pape, Lille, Nancy, Nantes, Obernai, Pennautier, Strasbourg), Germany (Hamburg, Böblingen, Bonn, Bremen, Dresden, Lubeck, Meersburg, Munich, Remaghen), Great Britain (London), Belgium (Brussels, Jodoigne, Modave), Sweden (Stockholm), Spain (Madrid, Girona, Sant Pere de Rodes, Vigo), Portugal (Madeira), Switzerland (Zurich, Baden), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Croatia (Zagreb, Pola), Serbia (Belgrade), Greece (Athens, Tesaloniki), Turkey (Ankara, Smyrna), Russia (Samara), Ukraine (Kharkov) Japan (Tokyo, Osaka), U.S.A. (San Francisco and other towns in California, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma), Canada (Vancouver, Victoria). He played with chamber and symphony orchestra conducted by De Bernart, Gavazzeni, Steinberg, Scimone and many other. He has taught master classes in Italy, France, Spain, Serbia, Albania, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Japan, U.S.A. and Canada. He also has been a member of the commission of piano competitions and music consultant for concert seasons. From November 1st 2009 to October 31st 2010 has been on sabbatical to have a series of concerts, as well as in Italy, the United States, Russia, Germany and Austria. In some locations has given master classes and discussions on the management system of music education in America, Russia and German area. In 2014 he was appointed expert by the European Commission - Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) for the evaluation and allocation of European contributions to projects proposed under the Program 2014/2020 Creative Europe Culture, Sub-Program European Networks. He has recorded for the Italian radio and television (RAI). In 1991 he recorded (Bongiovanni ed.) the monumental Concerto op. 39a for piano, orchestra and male choir by F. Busoni, and from 2015 began publishing, on the best online stores, of a live recordings series collected along the whole concert career, with music from Bach to twentieth century. This recording project continues, from 2016, with new recordings made in studio. PRESS:Ferruccio Busoni: Piano Concert op. 39. To get a good performance of the Concerto Op. 39 pianists have to fulfill a remarkable commitment. That's what Giovanni Umberto Battel did. The extraordinary pianist technique has enabled the solution of the infinite transcendental passages written in the style of Liszt with added complications to overcome the Liszt model. Giovanni Umberto Battel great interpreter of Busoni. Battel recorded the Ferruccio Busoni Piano and Orchestra Concert with extraordinary stylistic effectiveness. Battel and Ravel brilliant wedding. Battel identifies the liquid, rarefied atmospheres of “Noctuelles” in direct relation to the absorption of Debussy impressionism, but also in formal respect to Liszt's virtuoso pianism. The sound retype enunciation at the beginning, millimeter calculated, of "Oiseaux tristes" is highly effective. An artificial but suggestive fineness in a descriptive context now bright now flimsy and lamenting. In the floating "Une barque sur l'Océan" the pianist offers the highest test of full control of sonority and movement. In the fizzy vitality of "Alborada del Gracioso" Battel reveals all his instrumental excellence for an incisive transposition between purely piano and orchestral intentions. Precious recording. Giovanni Umberto Battel, with a brilliant and soft virtuosity and a vivid expressive sensibility, is the ideal interpreter for the five pieces of “Miroirs”. The effects are pleasurable: Battel's piano is sophisticated, and every note seems embedded with precise and conscious attention. This is a recording that will be very well in the record library of any music professional or amateur. |
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