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A bloodless but passionate challenge between two brilliant young pianists: Elisa Brumat and Paolo Zentilin, who will take turns playing compositions by Giustini, Chopin, Debussy, Ligeti and Ra vel, followed by a public vote.

A bloodless but passionate challenge between two young and brilliant pianists: Elisa Brumat and Paolo Zentilin, who will alternate in compositions by Giustini, Chopin, Debussy, Ligeti and Ravel, followed by a public vote.

...an enthralling piano duel between Emma Brumat and Paolo Zentilin...

‘Paolo Zentilin presents a successful recording of Lodovico Giustini's piano sonatas op.1 (musically important).
There are works with which a new development in the history of music begins.
Here we do not so much mean the aesthetic-genre or historical-receptive significance of ‘great’ compositions, such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Schoenberg's Op. 11.
In the case of pieces like the 12 Sonatas Op.1, which were to set new standards for piano music in later years.
These were the first printed works composed explicitly for the fortepiano, i.e. based on a differentiation of touch or dynamics and emphasis.
This in turn meant a massive increase in timbral qualities and affective representation, which was revolutionary in the field of piano music.
Unfortunately, Giustini's sonatas are still known to few because there are not many recordings of them.
That makes this complete recording of Paolo Zentilin's works, released in 2021 on the Brilliant Classics label, all the more enjoyable.
Of course, the CDs are not only impressive for their repertoire value, but also show Zentilin as an extremely competent performer who presents Giustini's works with great empathy.
Because Zentilin pays particular attention to the design of the dynamic effects, the musical-historical significance of the collection is emphasised in a targeted manner without being overly intrusive.
Conclusion: a truly successful recording of an unfortunately too unknown repertoire, which gives hope that something may change for the better in Giustini's popularity.’
Full review

‘Paolo Zentilin's work deserves attention for several reasons.
Because it rediscovers Lodovico Giustini (1685-1743), the Pistoiese composer who first wrote music for the piano.
Because it is the first complete performance of the 12 Sonatas op. 1.
Because Zentilin's interpretation is as rigorous as it is passionate, philological no less than brilliant.’

‘Dealing with the interpretation of the Friulian artist, one must first of all emphasise his musicological role in this recording venture (which does not represent a world premiere, since in 2010 Andrea Coen recorded Giustini's op. 1 for the same label, but using a fortepiano copy of Karl Schwarz in 1726). 1 by Giustini using, however, a fortepiano copy by Karl Schwarz from 1726), since Zentilin had to deal with both the manuscript and printed copies that had shortcomings, transcription errors and harmonic anomalies that he himself had to remedy.
Moreover, unlike Coen had done with his world premiere recording, Zentilin wanted to tackle Giustini's Sonatas with a modern piano.
An extremely risky choice, since it is one thing to read the compositional modernity of the Pistoiese author, quite another to force his music to confront a modernism that does not belong to him.
But his performance (by the way, this is his first recording project) is not only fully respectful of the late Baroque aura, but also succeeds in perfectly x-raying the dimension in itself of the Justinian's work by exploiting the possibilities provided by a modern piano as opposed to a fortepiano.
This is because, and the trained ear of an attentive listener will recognise this immediately, the harmonic construct and the consequent melodic outcropping of the Sonatas lend themselves to the piano sound, as both require great fluidity of timbre, an instrumental mechanism that allows them to give life to a phrasing that, while not overflowing rightly into a romantic dimension, must nevertheless enhance a rhythmic sense (the tempos are mainly dances), which in a work such as this is fundamental lymph. But it is the timbre, its introspective depth, its dynamic rendering that then does the rest.
Because here it is a question of being exceedingly shrewd, that is, of being able to step on the accelerator while keeping the handbrake firmly on, in order to be able to restore (and not only explore) a quiet elegance, which does not stop at form alone, but expands, radiates in the cult of its sound, transmitting a sense of beauty that already caresses the Canovian lines, which ensures that Apollo still triumphs for the moment before making way for the Dionysian 19th century.
This has made it possible to achieve a balance of reading, of interpretation in which the breath, the inner dimension, the occult engine that holds up the entire architectural arcade of a composition, is never lacking, and listening to which, had it lacked such performance peculiarities, would have been extremely tiring, if not worse.
On the contrary, Paolo Zentilin has demonstrated that he knows how to confront and overcome the occlusion of external time precisely by virtue of his ability to know how to exalt the inner one, inherent in the Twelve Justinian Sonatas.
Therefore, those who claim to love the 19th-century piano sonata, those who consider the piano their instrument of the heart, have a very specific task: to listen to these three discs in order to understand how the dawn of a new era dawned. With thanks to Paolo Zentilin, of course.
A monument of recording technique, such as Matteo Costa, and Giorgio Fiori took care of the sound capture in the Benelli Mosell studio in Prato.
Their shrewdness and expertise are demonstrated by the way the dynamics behave, capable of best restoring the timbral splendour of the two Faziolis used by Paolo Zentilin (by the way, I fully agree with the choice of this piano, whose crystallinity, in the high register is not as pronounced as on the contrary with a Steinway, which could have offset the beauty of the sound obtained instead with the Italian keyboard instrument), as well as boasting a more than remarkable energy and speed, so that microdynamics (pp and ppp are certainly not lacking) can also be rendered excellently.
The soundstage ideally reconstructs the piano at the centre of the loudspeakers and the congruous depth in which it is physically located certainly does not compromise the timbral rendering and its multiple nuances, thanks to an absolutely convincing amplitude and height in the reproduction.
The tonal balance and detail are no less impressive, with the former doing justice to the medium-low and high registers, which always remain distinct and contoured, and with the latter offering a remarkable example of materiality, thanks to abundant doses of black surrounding the piano.’

‘He would have gone unnoticed in the river of the late Baroque by Lodovico Giustini from Pistoia, marked even by the same year of birth, the mythical 1685, as the giants Bach, Händel and Scarlatti.
Instead, his name is still remembered for the Sonatas op. 1, written in 1732 for Bartolomeo Cristofori's brand new instrument: twelve jewels, which Paolo Zentilin puts on disc (3CD Brilliant Classics) for the first time on the modern piano.
Gone are the wigs of the galant style, out comes the entirely new taste in writing.
Dances and stürmisch cantables look to more distant horizons, better defined in the designs, full of energy such as only a 30-year-old and well-schooled composer can imagine.
A new world compared to Miecio Horszowski's historic 1970s edition on fortepiano.’

Review of the album dedicated to Giustini on Radio3, Primo Movimento, by Arturo Stalteri.

‘At the other end of the spectrum, Zentilin uses a Fazioli F 278s, a nine-foot concert grand piano, and his playing is more extrovert.
Both performers, however, manage to bring out the drama in Giustini's music.
The Fazioli F 278 is an extremely versatile instrument and Zentilin exploits the full range of colours. Although I prefer the sound of a fortepiano for this repertoire, Zentilin's interpretations are intelligent and tasteful. In a way, he has updated Giustini's music for a contemporary audience that is used to hearing the piano not in a living room, but in a concert hall.
Zentilin expands the dynamic contrasts to match the prodigious volume possible with a modern grand piano, and his passages are impeccably clean at all dynamic levels, from subdued pianissimo to exuberant fluttering.
It is easy to think that Giustini would be happy to hear the volume of sound a modern instrument can produce as well as the consistency of tone in all registers (although the bass sounds too fuzzy in this recording).
This is not to say that Zentilin has abandoned stylistic conventions. He is careful to emphasise the characteristic rhythms and gestures of dance forms, for example, but does not let historicism get in the way of a good line.
The liner notes mention that Zentilin has made changes to the printed edition when he suspects errors, and it is worth noting that his changes are audibly imperceptible, confirming that they are idiomatic and natural-sounding.
Overall, this is a welcome addition to a relatively small field.
Zentilin offers a fresh and modern version of Giustini's music, which mainly received the attention of period instrumentalists.
It is easy to recommend this recording, especially considering its reasonable price (it can be purchased for as little as $12.99).’

Episode entirely dedicated to Giustini's publication 
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