“Michelangelo is a very special talent, I haven’t encountered such a talent in a very longtime…
meeting such a talent is not only a great pleasure, it is much more: it gives faith to the future in music”
FOU TS’ONG

Michelangelo Carbonara - biography

Michelangelo Carbonara was born in 1979 in Salerno (Italy), starting musical studies when he was five. He owes his piano formation to Sergio Perticaroli, William Grant Naboré and Fou Ts’ong. At seventeen, he graduated with top grades from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome under the guidance of Fausto Di Cesare. In 1999 he achieved his Piano Specialization Degree with top grades at the Academy of Santa Cecilia, earning the Grant for the Best Graduate of the Year in the class of Sergio Perticaroli. Michelangelo furthered his studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria and the Académie Musicale de Villecroze (with Dominique Merlet) in France. In 2001 he was admitted to the famous International Piano Foundation “Theo Lieven” and the International Piano Academy Lake-Como (headed by the legendary Martha Argerich), to follow the master classes of Fou Ts’ong, Leon Fleisher, Graham Johnson, Dmitri Bashkirov, Alicia De Larrocha, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, William Grant Naboré, Andreas Staier and many other luminaries. He has won numerous national and international piano competitions (around 20 prizes). At 18 he made his international debut with orchestra in Austria, where he played the Third and the First Beethoven Concertos in the same programme. In 2003 he debuted in China, also giving a master class at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. His repertory is extremely broad and covers the entire Schubert Sonatas and almost all the piano works by Schubert, Weber, Brahms, Schumann, a lot of Beethoven’s, Clementi’s, Mozart’s Haydn’s Sonatas and dozens of Scarlatti’s. Particular attention is also given to Polish composers (amongst which Chopin, Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Paderewski). For 2006 he is preparing Mozart’s complete piano Concertos. In the next months there will be releasing three compact disc of his piano playing by Tactus, Papageno and Geva labels. Other activities include composition and conducting.

Excerpts from the press

“Michelangelo has flying hands, an impeccable touch, a clear and bright sound, the ability to always hold the listener’s interest….we’ve rarely encountered such a great rapport between musician and public….a triumph.” Carla Moreni, II Sole 24 Ore

“Michelangelo is a fearless performer. On a technical level there are no chinks in his armour. His playing has a noble and majestic quality….deep expression and a light, feathery touch….”
Cecilia Xuereb, The Sunday Times (Malta)

“He is the greatest Italian hope at the piano.” Andrea Cuomo, Il Giornale

“An incredible, deep sound, rich and refined….a blend of gentleness and greatness.”
Serge Martin, Le Soir

“A star is born...an amazing performance...an extraordinary success...his playing is characterized by the beauty of his sound, the breadth and airiness of his phrasing, the precision and clarity of his rhythm, his admirable virtuosity, his deeply felt pathos, and the richness of his expression”
Alberto Cima, La Provincia

“An unforgettable Scarlatti.” The Sunday Times (England)

“His wonderful hands express the true voice of Schubert.”
Paola Pariset, Il Tempo

“We will be always grateful to Michelangelo Carbonara for his originality and his bravery….for having given us a fantastic demonstration of differing musical climates.”
Nicolas Blanmont, La Libre Belgique

“From Michelangeli to Michelangelo….an exceptional pianist who is transformed, while playing, by the music inside him.” Annamaria Barbato Ricci, I-am.it

“A great, unexpected success.” Anna Jurasz, Muzyka

“A profound, inner-directed way of playing, very different from the gaudy virtuosity of the other younger pianists.” Silvia Consenzi, Suonare News

“He commands an awesome arsenal of pianistic technique, transporting perfectly-realized music to our ears. He is exciting in his conceptions, wonderful in his expression, audacious in his choices.”
Hanni Neubeck, Begegnung mit dem Klavier

“Carbonara is an extraordinary pianist….a great talent with enormous abilities.”
Massimo Lo lacono, Roma

Main Repertoire

piano solo

BACH Partita n. 6, Preludes and Fugues from Well Tempered Clavier;
BACH/LISZT Prelude and Fugue in A minor;
BARTÓK Suite op. 14, Sonata;
BEETHOVEN Sonatas: op. 2 n. 3, op. 10 n. 1, op. 10 n. 2 , op. 10 n. 3, op. 14 n. 1, op. 14 n. 2, op. 22, op. 31 n. 2, op. 53, op. 78, op. 81/a, op. 90, op. 101, op. 110, op. 111, 32 Variations in C minor WoO 80;
BERIO Wasseklavier, Erdenklavier, Luftklavier, Feuerklavier;
BACEWICZ Sonata n. 2;
BRAHMS Complete Piano Sonatas, Variations on a Händel’s Theme op. 24, 2 Rhapsodies op. 79, 3 Intermezzos op. 117, 6 Piano Pieces op. 118;
CHOPIN 24 Preludes op. 28, Sonata op. 35, Balladas: op. 38, op. 47, Polonaise-Fantasy op. 61, Scherzo op. 31, Studies op. 10: n. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Studies op. 25: n. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Bolero op. 19; Valse Brillante op. 34 n.1, Nocturne op. 48 n. 2; 4 Mazurkas op. 30;
CLEMENTI Sonatas: op. 8, op. 12 n. 4, op. 26 n. 1, op. 26 n. 2, op. 34 n. 2, op. 39 n. 2, op. 40 n. 2, op. 40 n. 3;
DEBUSSY Suite bergamasque, Children's corner, Deux Arabesques, Estampes, Images (Second part), Etudes (choice);
FALLA Fantasìa Bética
GRIEG Sonata op. 7;
HAYDN Sonatas Hob. XVI: 34, 35, 40, 41, 42;
LIGETI Etude Automne en Varsovie;
LISZT Sonata in B minor; Studies (Paganini): n. 1, n. 2, n. 5; Studies (Transcendental): n. 2, 4, 8, 10, 12;
LUTOSLAWSKI Complete Piano Music;
MENDELSSOHN Variations serieuses op. 54, Trois Fantasies ou Caprices op. 16;
MOSZKOWSKI Virtuoso Piano Music;
MOZART Sonatas: K 283, K 284, K 311, K 330, K 331, Sonatensatz K 400, Rondo K 485, Adagio K 540, Fantasia K 457;
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an exhibition;
PADEREWSKI Variations sur un thème original, Caprice, Legende, Cracovienne Fantastique;
PROKOFIEV Sonatas: n. 3 op. 28, n. 4 op. 29;
RACHMANINOV Variations on a Corelli’s theme op. 42, Etudes-Tableaux (choice);
ROTA Piano Music;
SCARLATTI Sonatas (choice);
SCARLATTI –GRANADOS 26 Sonatas (complete);
SCHUBERT Complete Piano Sonatas, Complete Piano Fragments of Sonata, 18 Waltz op. 9a, Noble waltz op. 77, 6 Musical Moments op. 94; 4 Impromptus op. 90, 4 Impromptus op. 142, 16 Deutsche tänze op. 33, 8 Menuette;
SCHUBERT-LISZT Lieder (choice);
SCHUMANN Complete Piano Sonatas, Papillons op. 2; Toccata op. 7, Carnaval op. 9, Fantasiestücke op. 12, Symphonic Studies op. 13, Children Scenes op. 15, Kreisleriana op. 16, 3 Romances op. 28, 4 Marches op. 76, Scenes from the Forest op. 82, 3 Fantasies op. 111;
STRAVINSKY Sonata;
SZYMANOWSKI Theme varié op. 3, Fantasia op. 14, Etudes (choice);
WEBER Complete Piano Sonatas, Polacca brillante op. 72, Variations on a Russian theme op. 40, 6 Dances J 143-148.

PIANO AND ORCHESTRA

BEETHOVEN Concertos: n. 1 op. 15, n. 3 op. 37, n. 4 op. 58;
BRAHMS Concerto n. 2 op. 83;
CHOPIN Concertos n. 1 op. 11, n. 2 op. 21;
DALLAPICCOLA Concertino per Muriel Covreaux;
MENDELSSOHN Konzertstück op. 21;
MOZART Complete Piano Concertos;
PROKOFIEV Concerto n. 3 op. 26;
RACHMANINOV Concerto n. 4 op. 40;
SCHUMANN Concerto op. 54, Konzertstück op. 134;
WEBER Concerto op. 11, Konzertstück op. 79.

CHAMBER MUSIC

BACH Sonata for violin and piano BWV 1015;
BEETHOVEN Sonatas for violin and piano op. 12 n. 1, op. 12 n. 3, op. 30 n. 2, op. 96 n. 10, Sonata op. 5 n. 2 for cello and piano, Trio op. 1 n. 2 for violin, cello and piano;
BERG Vier Stücke op. 5 for clarinet and piano;
BRAHMS Sonatas for violin and piano: n. 2 op. 100, n. 3 op. 108, Sonatas for clarinet and piano: n. 1, n. 2 op. 120, Sonata op. 38 for cello and piano, Quintet op. 34 for strings and piano;
DEBUSSY Rhapsody for clarinet and piano, Sonata for violin and piano;
FALLA Concerto for piano and five instruments;
HINDEMITH Sonata op. 11 n. 4 for alto and piano, Sonata for clarinet and piano; Sonata for flute and piano;
LUTOSLAWSKI Dance Preludes for clarinet and piano;
MENDELSSOHN Lieder (choice);
MOZART Sonatas for violin and piano: K 301, K 304, K 306, Sonata K 448 for 2 pianos, Trio K 542, Quintet K 452 for wind instruments and piano;
MILHAUD Suite for violin, clarinet and piano, Duo concertante for clarinet and piano;
PIAZZOLLA Gran Tango for cello and piano;
POULENC Sonata for clarinet and piano;
PROKOFIEV Sonatas for violin and piano: n. 1 op. 80, n. 2 op. 94/a;
ROTA Sonata for clarinet and piano; Sonata for violin and piano;
SAINT-SAENS Sonata n. 1 op. 75 for violin and piano, Sonata op. 167 for clarinet and piano;
SCHUBERT Sonata D 574 for violin and piano, Three Sonatinas op.137 for violin and piano, Rondo D 895 for violin and piano, Fantasia D 934 for violin and piano;
SCHUMANN Sonatas for violin and piano: n. 1 op. 105, n. 3; Fantasiestücke op. 73 for clarinet and piano, Märchenbilder for alto and piano, Andante con variazioni op. 46 for 2 pianos, Trio op. 63 for violin, cello and piano, Der Rose Pilgefahrt op. 112 for soloists, choir and piano, Quintet op. 44 for strings and piano;
SOSTAKOVICH Sonata for cello and piano. Op. 40;
STRAVINSKIJ Suite from Histoire du Soldat for violin, clarinet and piano, Suite Italienne;
WEBER Trio op. 63 for flute, cello and piano;
WEBERN Vier stücke op. 7 for violin and piano.