Mariangela Vacatello did not win the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. She was certainly never taught that the only way to make it to the show in the early 21st century is to play louder and faster than anyone else. She plays beautifully, musically, and with a patience rarely found in the very young. She plays as fast and as loud as is called for by the music, but more importantly, every note, every line, every phrase makes musical sense. She is a true musician, not just another of the acrobats being turned out by the thousands in the musical mega-factories of the Far East. In her playing one hears the great pianistic traditions melded with the freshness of an individual approach. One hears beautiful and varied tone production. One hears music.
Below you will hear her play Bach and Haydn, Chopin and Busoni, Ravel and Scriabin (Her performance of the left hand Nocturne is simply to die for), Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Gershwin. And you will hear excerpts from two big Russian concertos, Rachmaninov's 1st and Prokofievs' 3rd. She plays the music in a style and with a tone entirely appropriate to each composer while bringing her own very special understanding of what the music has to say.
Just sit back and enjoy the playing of a true artist of the piano who recalls to mind the great women pianists of recent and not so recent generations. And when you think of the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, think of the pianist who should have won, Mariangela Vacatello.
Bach Italian Concerto BWV 971 ii Andante
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Bach-Liszt Prelude and Fugue in A minor recorded live in 2012
Haydn Piano Sonata No. 60 in C Hob.XVI
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Chopin rondo in E flat Major Op 16 Final Round Van Cliburn Competition 2009
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The following group consists of bits and pieces of great works which contribute to the greater understanding and appreciation of Mariangela Vacatello's playing.
Liszt Piano in b minor (conclusion) recorded live in 2010
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Liszt Piano Concerto 1 in E flat Major, S.124 (selection) unidentified conductor and orchestra
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1 in b flat minor, Op 23 i Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso - Allegro con spirito Alessandro Pinzauti conducting the Camerata Strumentale di Prato; Orchestra da camera Pistoiese recorded live in 2012
Part I
Cadenza
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3 in C Major Op 26 iii Allegro ma non troppo Final Round Van Cliburn Competition 2009
Liszt Parafrase on "Miserere" from Verdi's Il Trovatore recorded live in 2012
Debussy "l'Isle Joyeuse" recorded live 2011
Debussy Octave Study recorded live 2011
Busoni Ten Variations on a Prelude by Chopin Recorded in 2008
Scriabin Nocturne Op 9 No 2 for the left hand Semi-Final Round Van Cliburn Competition 2009
