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ABOUT

Foto Luca Quintavalle Maja Arglakijeva

“Revelation. One could not find a more appropriate word to summarize the multiple lessons of this double CD. Revelation of a 38 years old interpreter, Luca Quintavalle, as impressive by his technical prowess as by his mastery of the aesthetic data......this disc is in every way exceptional.”

Le Monde, Pierre Gervasoni

“The Barockorchester:Jung played under the direction of Luca Quintavalle and this factor was a great asset of the performance. The colours and beautiful rhythmic effects, the tiny recitative ideas and the larger ones, often airy arches that Quintavalle and his musicians present were magical!”

Salzburger NachrichtenJörn Florian Fuchs

“Eberl's Piano Sonatas: the complete works that will make history. Two conclusions are obvious: here is the major complete set that the discography was waiting for and that it will be difficult to face from now on. The second is that this is one of the most rewarding reappraisals of a solo keyboard work we have ever heard. Bravo!.”

Crescendo MagazineChristophe Steyne

“It was truly amazing what an incredible richness of sound this instrument can produce when an artist is able to work magic on it like the soloist of this evening.”

Badische Zeitung, Bianca Flier

“"He is an outstanding soloist. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto was a sensitive listening experience. Such sound magic needs no showmanship to captivate its audience. Skill, paired with empathy for the music, is completely sufficient."”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Dorothea Friedrich

”Brilliant music, superbly played. For me, this is the most impressive harpsichord CD I have heard in years."

Dr. Hartmut Hein, klassik.com

Born in Como in 1983, Luca Quintavalle has been described by Le Monde as a 'revelation' and as a performer whose art 'is Homeric in every sense', by opernnetz.de as a 'breathtaking harpsichordist' and by Süddeutsche Zeitung "an outstanding soloist".

For more than five years, he was the harpsichordist for Cecilia Bartoli and Les Musiciens du Prince conducted by Gianluca Capuano, playing more than 80 concerts and opera performances together. Since 2020, he has regularly collaborated as assistant and continuo-player with Fabio Biondi. His debut as conductor in Carlo Pallavicino's opera 'L'amazzone Corsara' at the Innsbrucker Festwochen 2022 was widely praised by critics (Frankfurter Allgemeine, nmz.de, classiquenews.com, olyrix.com, onlinemerker.de, concerti.de, merkur.de, Deutschlandfunk, Das Orchester). In September 2023, he conducted the Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in four symphony concerts.

As a soloist on harpsichord and fortepiano Quintavalle has appeared with leading orchestras (Concerto Köln, Harmonie Universelle, Mozarteumorchester and Kölner Kammerorchester), in important venues (Philharmonie in Cologne, Tonhalle in Düsseldorf, Salzburger Festspiele and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest), playing with partners such as Julia Lezhneva and Andreas Staier. As a continuo player he has collaborated with several prominent orchestras (Les Talens Lyriques, Europa Galante, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Cappella Gabetta, Il Pomo d'Oro, Ensemble Matheus, Academia Montis Regalis, La Folia Barockorchester, lautten compagney, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, hr-Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker and Philharmonisches Staatsorchesters Hamburg, Ensemble Resonanz, Gürzenich Orchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg) and in the world's most prestigious halls (Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Herkulessaal and n Prinzregententheater München, Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Berliner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Lincoln Center New York, KKL Luzern, Palau de la Música Catalana, St. Petersburg Philharmonic. ...). Also very active as a continuo player in the opera field, he has performed in the most important European theatres (Staatsoper Wien, Opera Garnier de Paris, Salzburger Festspiele, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro San Carlo, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Monte-Carlo.....)

Quintavalle has made dozens of recordings (for the Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Capriccio, Onyx, Erato, Hyperion, Hänssler Classics, Pan Classics and TYXart labels), as well as radio and television recordings.

His solo recording debut for the Brilliant Classics label, with harpsichord music by Barrière and De Bury, received critical acclaim (American Record Guide: "I don't expect this recording to be surpassed"; "Recording of the Month" Music web international; "definitely to be recommended" Early Music-Oxford Press; "This is the most impressive harpsichord CD I have heard in years" klassik.com). His second solo recording (complete fortepiano sonatas by Anton Eberl) was awarded 5 stars by Classic Voice and Piano News and "Joker Crescendo Découverte" by Crescendo Magazine.

His chamber music CDs with his G.A.P. Ensembles, Ayre Baroque and Nel Dolce, were described as '...a superb disc' by MusicWeb International, 'highly recommended' by Fanfare and received '5 de Diapason'. A new CD for Deutsche Grammophon will be released in the spring in duo with viola da gamba player Maddalena del Gobbo. March 2024 will see the Brilliant Classics release of the CD Bach/Shostakovich with singer Dorothee Mields and the G.A.P. Ensemble, a programme where for the first time Quintavalle is engaged both as harpsichordist and modern pianist.

Luca Quintavalle is also very active in promoting 20th and 21st century music and has premiered pieces by Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, Fabio Vacchi, Stefano Gervasoni, Francesco Filidei, Mauro Lanza, Luca Francesconi, Silvia Colasanti, Vittorio Montalti, Karola Obermüller, Augusta Read Thomas, Misato Mochizuki and many others. His CDs "Italian Contemporary Music for harpsichord" and "Musikè- harpsichord music by female contemporary composers" were awarded 5 stars by Classic Voice and were enthusiastically praised by Le Monde, il Corriere della Sera, il Giornale della musica, BBC Music Magazine, among others, and also received a nomination for the "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik".

His first CD as a conductor "Mirrors" with Jeanine de Bique and Concerto Köln for the label Berlin Classics was considered as one of the discographic revelations of the year winning the OPUS KLASSIK and being widely praised by international critics (Diapason D'or Découverte, 5 Stars from Forum- Opera, The Times, BBC Music Magazine and MUSICA, Gramophone Editor's Choice, OPERA MAGAZINE - CD of the month).

After graduating in piano with top marks, distinction and special mention, Quintavalle continued his studies  at the Como Conservatory under the guidance of Giovanni Togni, Stefano Molardi and Paolo Beschi, where he again finished  with top marks and distinction in harpsichord. He studied piano with Ernesto Esposito and László Gyimesi and conducting with Yoichi Sugiyama, Christoph Altstädt, Giancarlo Andretta, Andrea Sanguineti and Mariano Chiacchiarini. As a DAAD scholarship holder, he obtained the 'Konzertexamen' with distinction at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen studying with Christian Rieger. He attended master classes with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Jesper Christensen, Andrea Marcon, Stefano Demicheli, Christophe Rousset, Andreas Staier, Alexei Lubimov, Julien Salemkour and Francesco Lanzillotta.

He has taught masterclasses at the Moscow State University of Art and Culture, in St. Petersburg and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. A lecturer until 2018 at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, he currently teaches at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf.


 

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