57th International Violin Competition "Premio Paganini"
Massimo Quarta
The American Record Guide has described Massimo Quarta as "the embodiment of elegance" and according to Diapason "the brio and the sensuality of his playing, the purity of his sonority and the elegance of a diction deprived of emphasis, give to his view a tenderness and a refinement rarely heard".
Massimo Quarta sets standards in his recording for Dynamic rediscovering the original version of both better known Paganini’s works as the Six Violin Concertos played with the "Cannone" Guarneri del Gesù, the violin owned by the great Genovese virtuoso, as well as works for violin and piano (I Palpiti, Napoléon, Weigl Variations, Le Streghe).
His recording of Paganini 24 Caprices has been released in January 2005 by Chandos.
His revolutionary approach to the virtuosistic Italian music conquered the audiences and have been wildely acclaimed in the international press (CHOC Award 2004 of Le monde de la Musique) gaining him an honoured place alongside the most distinguished artists (The Strad).
Massimo Quarta came to international attention in 1991 when he won the first prize at the prestigious International Violin Competition "Premio Paganini" in Genoa.
As a result of the extraordinary success achieved from this prize, he started an international career which has taken him to be invited to major concert societies playing in Berlin (Konzerthaus, Philharmonie), Paris (Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet), Munich (Philharmonie am Gasteig), Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Duesseldorf (Tonhalle), Tokyo (Metropolitan Art Space, Bunka Kaikan), Warsaw (Warsaw Philharmonic), Moscow (Great Hall of the Conservatory), Milan (Teatro alla Scala), Rome (Accademia di Santa Cecilia), playing with such conductors as Miun Wun Chung, Christian Thielemann, Daniel Harding, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Yurowsky, Isaac Karbtvcevsky, Daniel Oren.
Firmly established soon as one of the most brilliant violinists of his generation, he has been guest of renowned festivals notably those in Stresa, Sarasota, Kuhmo, Spoleto, Bratislava, Kfar-Blum, Bodensee, Ljubjana, Ravenna, Città di Castello, Lyon, Naples, Sapporo, Potsdam, Berliner Festwochen and invited by Gidon Kremer in 2004 to the Kammermusikfest in Lockenhaus.
During the last years, besides his intense activity as soloist, he gradually increased his career as conductor, regularly appearing with Orchestras as I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Orchestra di Padova, Fondazione "A. Toscanini", Orchestra Haydn, Accademia di S. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra.
He has recently been appointed as musical artistic director of the Fondazione I.C.O. "Tito Schipa" in Lecce.
Massimo Quarta has been awarded of the International Prize "Foyer Des Artistes", of the "Gino Tani International Prize for Arts and Spectacles" and has also recorded for Philips, and the Four Seasons by A. Vivaldi with the Moskow Chamber Orchestra for Delos.
He now lives in Rome and is Professor at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Musikhochschule) in Lugano.
He plays the "Marechal Bertier-ex von Vecsey" Antonio Stradivari from 1716, kindly loaned by the "Pro Canale" Foundation of Milano.
Nationality
Edition
- Edition 1991 1st Prize
- Edition 1991 Enrico Costa Award
- Edition 2004 Member of the Jury
- Edition 2006 Member of the Jury
It was almost ten years ago, in 1991, when I was awarded with the First Prize at the Paganini contest and, yet, this memory still moves me incredibly. To a young musician a contest usually stands for stress.. you are tense, afraid of making mistakes, feel the competition aiming at awarding "the youngest", "the best performance of the most difficult piece -, you feel you might lose your control while playing... At that time, however, from the very beginning of the preliminary trial, I felt ready and cool, able to keep my control, maybe also because I had studied and worked a lot for the preparation of the contest. On the stage of Teatro Margherita I was enraptured and felt I was really doing my best; and this feeling was stronger and stronger in the following trials. Only during the final trial I really started considering the possibility of winning. My mind was going back to the time when I began studying, when, year after year, I was collecting the contest programmes, hoping, one day, to take part in one of them. That moment had arrived, together with a strong determination to win. I will never forget the warm applause of the public, even before the cadenza of Paganini's Concerto nr. 1 was concluded, and then the Chairman of the Jury announcing me, being awarded with the First Prize.