THE REVIEW
Bach's concertos for four pianos at St Nicolò Arena illuminate the "Music and Monument" Festival with sublime Art
An event conceived by Maestro Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara, who also performed alongside Maestro Balzani and others in Catania's prestigious former Benedictine church
Francesco Giordano
December 29th, 2025 - 9:00 p.m.
The "Music and Monument" Festival, now in its fifth edition promoted by the "A. Scarlatti"
Cultural Institute and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Catania - reached its pinnacle
on the evening of December 28th. Within the monumental temple of St Nicolò Arena, in the memory of enthusiasts
an exceptional and unique performance took place: the execution on four pianos of the celebrated "keyboard
concertos" by the supreme Johann Sebastian Bach. Composed for the harpsichord and inspired by Vivaldi
between the 1710s and 1730s (during the Master's residency in Weimar and Leipzig), these Bachian concertos were presented
under the enlightened artistic direction of Maestro Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara. A professor at the Palermo
Conservatory but a Catania native by birth, Fiumara strongly desired to bring the festival to the Etnean city during
the Christmas season to create a cultural event of great significance.
The performing pianists were Vincenzo Balzani and Andrea Bacchetti, Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara, Giulio Potenza, Gianluca Badon, Giuseppe Grippi, Ludovica Franco e Modesto Picci, accompanied by a ten-piece string ensemble led by the Palermitan violinist Maestro Diego Obiso a teacher at the conservatory of Sicily's capital. The stage featured both young masters and maestros of established renown: Balzani is a titan of Italian piano music (of whom Maestro Pappalardo himself was a pupil), while Maestro Pappalardo Fiumara is an internationally acclaimed concert artist and a former student of the American pianist Rosalyn Tureck, known as the "High Priestess of Bach". Before a large and attentive audience, they performed with the essential support of four grand pianos provided by the Toscano company, arranged in a four-leaf clover formation to achieve the perfect tonal balance. This took place beneath the 18th-century dome designed by the architect Cavaliere Stefano Ittar, who contributed extensively to the Benedictine monumental complex.
During the event's presentation, Dr. Nicolò Fiorenza, Regional Inspector of Cultural Heritage, discussed the history of the church - characterized by an unfinished yet evocative facade - recalling the temple's turbulent history and the current commitment of the Sicilian Region to restore its dignity and solemnity following the damage of the war and post-war periods.
The performances of the concertos (F Minor BWV 1056, C Minor BWV 1060, C Major BWV 1061, C Minor BWV 1062, C Major BWV 1064 and A Minor BWV 1065) benefited from remarkably good acoustics, considering the vastness of the church, which is among the largest in Italy. For those who recall the Romantic pianists of the 19th and 20th centuries - who moved beyond the harpsichord's tonality to experiment with the sensual and passionate modularity of the piano - the evening revived the spirits of the spectators in a kaleidoscope of notes of the highest feeling. These notes describe both the supreme Art of Bach's genius and the voice of the Enlightenment era; years when The Spirit of the Laws and the Encyclopédie were being written, and secular-minded Sovereigns were reforming Europe toward modernity, abandoning, as Voltaire noted, the "fumes of the past" for a future they believed to be radiant. These were years of sparks that Bach's scores bring back to life through the filters of subsequent centuries, yet purified of dross to make them-like the phoenix, symbol of the city of Catania - even more beautiful in their resurgence.
Bach's historical biographer, Forkel, defined these concertos as "perfection", and in the pursuit of it (perhaps impossible on earth as it is divine), this Artist's music comes closer than any other to the "score of the Absolute".
Credit must be given to Maestro Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara, who, amidst his series of concerts in European and U.S. cities, joyfully returns to delight his homeland with such worthy initiatives.
Thundering applause accompanied the alternating performances for two, three, and four pianos.
The evening will have a solemn encore in Giarre on December 29th.
© All rights reserved
The performing pianists were Vincenzo Balzani and Andrea Bacchetti, Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara, Giulio Potenza, Gianluca Badon, Giuseppe Grippi, Ludovica Franco e Modesto Picci, accompanied by a ten-piece string ensemble led by the Palermitan violinist Maestro Diego Obiso a teacher at the conservatory of Sicily's capital. The stage featured both young masters and maestros of established renown: Balzani is a titan of Italian piano music (of whom Maestro Pappalardo himself was a pupil), while Maestro Pappalardo Fiumara is an internationally acclaimed concert artist and a former student of the American pianist Rosalyn Tureck, known as the "High Priestess of Bach". Before a large and attentive audience, they performed with the essential support of four grand pianos provided by the Toscano company, arranged in a four-leaf clover formation to achieve the perfect tonal balance. This took place beneath the 18th-century dome designed by the architect Cavaliere Stefano Ittar, who contributed extensively to the Benedictine monumental complex.
During the event's presentation, Dr. Nicolò Fiorenza, Regional Inspector of Cultural Heritage, discussed the history of the church - characterized by an unfinished yet evocative facade - recalling the temple's turbulent history and the current commitment of the Sicilian Region to restore its dignity and solemnity following the damage of the war and post-war periods.
The performances of the concertos (F Minor BWV 1056, C Minor BWV 1060, C Major BWV 1061, C Minor BWV 1062, C Major BWV 1064 and A Minor BWV 1065) benefited from remarkably good acoustics, considering the vastness of the church, which is among the largest in Italy. For those who recall the Romantic pianists of the 19th and 20th centuries - who moved beyond the harpsichord's tonality to experiment with the sensual and passionate modularity of the piano - the evening revived the spirits of the spectators in a kaleidoscope of notes of the highest feeling. These notes describe both the supreme Art of Bach's genius and the voice of the Enlightenment era; years when The Spirit of the Laws and the Encyclopédie were being written, and secular-minded Sovereigns were reforming Europe toward modernity, abandoning, as Voltaire noted, the "fumes of the past" for a future they believed to be radiant. These were years of sparks that Bach's scores bring back to life through the filters of subsequent centuries, yet purified of dross to make them-like the phoenix, symbol of the city of Catania - even more beautiful in their resurgence.
Bach's historical biographer, Forkel, defined these concertos as "perfection", and in the pursuit of it (perhaps impossible on earth as it is divine), this Artist's music comes closer than any other to the "score of the Absolute".
Credit must be given to Maestro Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara, who, amidst his series of concerts in European and U.S. cities, joyfully returns to delight his homeland with such worthy initiatives.
Thundering applause accompanied the alternating performances for two, three, and four pianos.
The evening will have a solemn encore in Giarre on December 29th.
© All rights reserved