Carlo Grante


Carlo Grante is an Italian classical pianist. He graduated at the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli. Later he also studied with Ivan Davis, Rudolf Firkušný, and Aliza Kezeradze. He is known as a performer of mainstream classical composers such as Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Domenico Scarlatti, as well as highly demanding late romantic and 20th-century composers such as Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, George Flynn, Roman Vlad, Paolo Troncon, Michael Finnissy, Alistair Hinton and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. His discography consists of more than 50 albums.

Biography

Grante graduated in piano at the Conservatory S. Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, then he studied in the U.S. with Ivan Davis, at the University of Miami and with Rudolf Firkusny at the Juilliard School in New York; he then moved to London, where he studied intensively with Alice Kezeradze-Pogorelich.
Carlo Grante is one of the most active among today's recording pianists and his concert repertoire, which has also contributed to the appreciation of lesser-known works. His discography currently numbers more than fifty CDs, ranging from Domenico Scarlatti, Platti, Clementi, Liszt and Schumann, to twentieth-century composers as Godowsky, Busoni and Sorabji. His recent record productions include works by Vlad and Finnissy dedicated to him and inspired by Bach and Busoni, the two concertos for piano and orchestra by Franz Schmidt with the Radio Orchestra of Leipzig conducted by Fabio Luisi, three concertos for piano and orchestra by Mozart with the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome conducted by B. Sieberer, the Busoni Concerto, recorded live in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony under Fabio Luisi, the three sonatas by Schumann, as well as works by Godowsky, Rachmaninoff, Flynn, Bloch and Liszt.
In his concert activity he has performed in major concert venues and prestigious halls: the Grosser Saal of the Konzerthaus and Goldener Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall in London, at the Parco della Sala Santa Cecilia Music in Rome, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Semperoper, Opera, Stuttgart, in New York, Chicago, Milan, Moscow, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Zagreb, Bucharest, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, the Vienna Festival, Istanbul, Husum, Newport, "Neuhaus Festival" in Saratov, Miami, Tallinn, Ravello, MDR Musiksommer, etc., with major orchestras, such as Dresden Staatskapelle, Royal Philharmonic in London, Vienna Symphony, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Orchestra of Radio-TV in Zagreb Radio Orchestra of Leipzig, Capella Istropolitana of Bratislava, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, etc. Grante has also written scholarly articles regarding research into methodology and piano literature.
At the Newport Music Festival in 1995 Carlo Grante performed the world premiere of the 53 Studies on the Etudes of Chopin by L. Godowsky. In 1996, on the occasion of two recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, Musical Opinion reviewer wrote: "The discs of Grante had shown astonishing qualities... his live performances have then proved him to be the first rate pianist that his discs suggested."
In 1997 he gave a series of 6 recitals in New York.
He performed again at the Newport Music Festival in 2011 and 2012.

Discography