The Italian Institute of Culture in Lebanon organizes, for the SOL Festival, a concert by the Duo
Roberto Prosseda (piano) and Eugenio Maria Fagiani (organ)
Monday, March 31, 2025 | 8:00 PM
Church of Our Lady of Louaizé | Zouk Mosbeh
FREE ENTRY
Under the patronage of the Embassy of Italy in Lebanon, the concert will take place as part of the 10th edition of the SOL – Week of the Organ in Lebanon, organized by the NDU’s School of Music and the International Organ Festival of the Holy Land.
The concert is part of the broader mission of the Institute, aimed at promoting the Italian language and culture, also through the dissemination of Italian music and its excellence, particularly in the field of organ music, whether sacred or secular, traditionally less known or confined to the liturgical setting.
BIOGRAPHY: Roberto Prosseda
Roberto Prosseda is one of the most active and versatile Italian musicians on the current international scene. He gained international fame following his Decca CDs dedicated to the piano music of Felix Mendelssohn. Over the past twenty years Roberto has performed regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Moscow State Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia, Filarmonica della Scala, Brussels Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, Netherlands Symphony, Berliner Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Weimar, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus. With the Gewandhaus Orchester conducted by Riccardo Chailly, he recorded the unpublished Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn, published by Decca in September 2009. His recording of Mozart Sonatas, recorded on Fazioli piano with unequal Vallotti tuning (6 Decca CDs, 2015-18), has received considerable international acclaim. In 2022 Roberto completed the recording of Mozarts’ complete piano works in 11 CDs. Since 2011, he has also played the piano-pedalier in public, having rediscovered and presented in modern premieres various pieces by Alkan and the Concert by Charles Gounod for piano-pedalier and orchestra. Roberto Prosseda gave 100 concerts with the pedal piano, contributing to the rediscovery of the instrument and its repertoire. He is currently artistic director of Cremona Musica International Exhibitions (Italy) and of Patmos Chamber Music Festival (Greece), which he co-founded in 2022.
BIOGRAPHY: Eugenio Maria Fagiani
Renowned internationally for his impressive, enthralling and vibrant musical language, the Italian organist Eugenio Maria Fagiani performs regularly on the most important instruments in Europe, the Middle East, America, Asia and Russia. Besides his activity as a soloist, he holds a long-term collaboration with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano La Verdi, the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini (Parma) as well as the Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice (Venezia). He has been directed by eminent conductors such as Jeffrey Tate, Riccardo Chailly, Xian Zhang, Vasily Petrenko and Stanislav Kochanovsky. Since 2008 he has been the Organist of the Franciscan Shrine of La Verna, Arezzo (IT) and in this position he combines that of Titular Organist of the Arezzo’s Cathedral (2022). He is invited to hold masterclasses and lectures for several top-class music institutions around Europe, Middle East, Russia and North America. He is also invited to serve as a juror in international competitions. He records with: VDE-Gallo, Spektral Records, Fugatto, Da Vinci Classics, Decca and Warner. In 2024, in Russia, he was awarded the “Organist of the Year” prize. This is a Russian award promoted by the “Foundation for the Development of Creative Initiatives” with the support of the Russian Music Union and the magazine “Musical Life”. It has been motivated as follows: for the creation of cultural bridges. Eugenio is the first foreigner musician that obtained this prize.
PROGRAM
Antonio Salieri (1750 -1825)
Piano Sonata (1783) in C major
(Lebanon prémiere)
Antonio Salieri (1750 -1825)
Piano Concerto in C major IAS 23. Version for piano and organ by Eugenio Maria Fagiani
Allegro Maestoso II. Larghetto III. Andantino:
(Lebanon prémiere)
Naji Hakim (1955)
Salve Regina for organ
César Franck (1822-1890):
Prélude, Fugue et Variation for piano and organ
(Lebanon prémiere)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847):
Piano Concerto no. 1 op. 25. Version for piano and organ of second and third movement by Cesar Franck
Andante – III. Presto- Molto Allegro e Vivace
(Lebanon prémiere)