Modest Mussorgsky : Promenade - Gnomus ( Pictures at an Exhibition ) - Antonio Castagna

Pianist Antonio Castagna performs Promenade I and Gnomus from “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Musorgsky Il pianista Antonio Castagna esegue Promenade I e Gnomus da “Quadri di una esposizione “ di Modest Musorgsky http://www.antoniocastagna.it #antoniocastagna #musorgsky #gnomus Mussorgsky's monumental piano composition, Pictures at an Exhibition, begins with the first piece, "Promenade." With "Promenade," the composer begins his tour of paintings and drawings. "Gnomus" depicts a small gnome moving awkwardly on his small, crooked legs. I remind all my friends that Mussorgsky conceived Pictures at an Exhibition drawing inspiration from the paintings and drawings of his friend and architect Victor Hartmann. My video features paintings by the painter and sculptor Nino Di Simone, who created his works inspired by music. Con la prima Promenade e con il primo brano, Gnomus, inizia questa monumentale composizione pianistica di Mussorgsky, ovvero Quadri di una esposizione. Con la Promenade il compositore inizia il suo giro tra i dipinti e i disegni. Gnomus raffigura un piccolo gnomo che si muove goffamente sulle sue piccole gambe storte. Ricordo a tutti gli amici che Mussorgky ideò Quadri di una esposizione ispirandosi a pitture e disegni dell’amico ed architetto Victor Hartmann. Nel mio video sono esposti i dipinti del pittore e scultore Nino Di Simone che ha realizzato i suoi lavori ispirandosi alla musica. Born in Karevo, Russia in 1839, Modest Musorgsky is considered one of the most original and influential of the 19th-century Russian nationalist composers. His mother gave him piano lessons. At age nine, he played a piano concerto by John Field before an audience in his parents’ house. At age 13, he was enrolled in a military academy in St. Petersburg and entered the Russian army in 1856. During this time, he sustained his interest in music even though he had not yet studied harmony or composition. In 1857, he joined a circle of Russian nationalist composers from whom he received instruction in composition. In 1858, he resigned from military service to devote himself to music. He began working for the government in 1863 but was dismissed from his post in 1867 because of his heavy drinking. After his dismissal, he spent some time composing. The resulting works include Saint John’s Night on the Bare Mountain, also known as Night on Bald Mountain. In 1869, Musorgsky was reinstalled in his government job and was able to complete the original version of the opera Boris Godunov, which was first produced after considerable changes in 1874. Other works during this time include the song cycles The Nursery (1872) and Songs and Dances of Death (1877), and the piano suite Pictures from an Exhibition (1874). When he died at age 42 from an alcohol-related stroke, many of Musorgsky’s works were unfinished. Some were completed by fellow composers. Among them are the operas Khovanshchina, completed by Rimsky-Korsakov, and The Fair at Sorochinsk, by César Cui. Antonio Castagna graduated from IMP “G. Braga” of Teramo and, subsequently, he perfected himself with Maestro Franco Medori and Maestro Carlo Zecchi. He has held numerous concerts and recitals in Italy and abroad . He has participated several times in RAI radio and television programs. He played in Salzburg as part of the Salzburger Schlosskonzerte and in Paris, at the Italian Cultural Institute, as part of the “Hommage à LA FIGLIA DI JORIO” event. He toured Basel for the Consulate General of Italy. At the invitation of the Italian Cultural Institute, he played in BRAZIL, in Rio de Janeiro, in the prestigious National Museum of Fine Arts. He played, with the Teramo Trio, in Philadelphia (USA) in the Marshall Auditorium of Haverford College, in the Lincoln Hall of the Union League. He was Director, from 1996 to 2012, of the I.S.S.M "Gaetano BRAGA" of Teramo. He was a piano teacher at the Conservatories of Foggia and Teramo.