Duo Gazzana

The Gazzana sisters, violinist Natascia and pianist Raffaella, are so close in both art and life they could pass for twins. While Italian by birth as well as in their culture, tastes and early training, the Duo received an international musical education with world class musicians such a Bruno Canino, Ruggiero Ricci, Yehudi Menhuin, Corrado Romano, Piero Farulli, Pierre Amoyal. Both sisters love nourishing their passion for arts, cinema, reading, travel and languages. In fact both graduated with extra-musical degrees from “La Sapienza” University of Rome; Natascia in visual arts, Raffaella in Italian literature. Wherever they performed, from Milan to Seoul, from Rome to Hong Kong, from Paris to Singapore, from Oslo to Zurich, from Stockholm to Cape Town, from Wellington to Berlin, Duo Gazzana has been praised for versatility in performing music from diverse periods, for their stage presence and innate talent for establishing a good feeling with the public. It was with great honour the Duo performed for HRH The Prince of Wales during his official visit to Italy for the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Sir William Walton. Duo Gazzana were named “Ambassadors of the City of Florence” and “Government guest” of Japan for important celebrations in international relations beetween Italy and Japan. The duo made their debut in New York and Tokyo. Recently the duo toured China and performed their maiden concert in Moscow – a multimedia concert dedicated to Tarkovsky. Duo Gazzana’s wide repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary music. The duo have a passion for exploring uncharted musical territories and often seek out areas which are disparate culturally and historically. While their programmes contain a common thread linking the works of different composers, they maintain a deeply rooted connection to finest and original aspects of the Italian musical identity: a sense of ‘cantabilità’, of melody, and of beauty. With exceptionally rigorous and faithful interpretation, Duo Gazzana highlights the enchantment of the music and the pleasure of listening, and strives to bring their audiences closer to works that might appear difficult or esoteric. Works have been dedicated to the duo by Valentin Silvestrov (Ukraine), Đặng Hữu Phúc (Vietnam), Fabio Maffei (Italy) and Tõnu Kõrvits (Estonia). Duo Gazzana is the first Italian chamber group to record for the prestigious German label ECM Records. Their latest album, including pieces by Poulenc, Walton, Dallapiccola, Silvestrov and Schnittke, received acclaim internationally, and was rated among the ‘Sunday Times’ selection of the best ten CDs in 2014. The Duo Gazzana is currently working on their third CD for ECM Records. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.