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 Nachrichten
“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 Magazine
“The interpreter's art is Homeric in every way.”
Le Monde-Pierre Gervasoni
”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, Italy and in demand harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and recording artist, Luca Quintavalle has been described as a “breathtaking harpsichord player!” ~ opernnetz.de and a " revelation" by Le Monde.
His recent engagements with Cecilia Bartoli and Les Musiciens du Prince include Europe-Tours, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia (at the Opera in Monte-Carlo and Wiener Staatsoper). He will be the assistant of Fabio Biondi for Mozart’s "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" in Luxembourg and Monteverdi's "Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" in Genève. His debut as a conductor for the opera production "L'amazzone Corsara" from Carlo Pallavicino at the Innsbrucker Festwochen 2022 was critically lauded (Frankfurter Allgemeine, nmz.de, classiquenews.com, olyrix.com, concerti.de, classiquenews.com, merkur.de, Salzburger Nachrichten....).
As a soloist and continuo-player, Mr. Quintavalle has appeared with several prominent orchestras (Les Talens Lyriques, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Cappella Gabetta, Concerto Köln, Il Pomo d’Oro, Ensemble Matheus, Academia Montis Regalis, Harmonie Universelle, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, NDR Radiophilharmonie, La Folia Barockorchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Hamburger Symphoniker, Philharmonisches Staatsorchesters Hamburg, Ensemble Resonanz, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gürzenich Orchester, Mozarteumorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg) and venues (Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, KKL Luzern, Berliner Philharmonie, Herkulessaal and Prinzregententheater München, Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Lincoln Center New York, Palau de la Música Catalana, Opéra national de Paris, Philharmonie de Paris.....)
An avid recording artist, Mr. Quintavalle has made recordings for Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Capriccio, Onyx, Erato, Hyperion, Hänssler Classics, Pan Classics and TYXart labels.
His first solo recording of Jean-Baptiste Barrière’s and Bernard de Bury's harpsichord music produced by the Brilliant Classics label, was chosen as “Recording of the month” by MusicWeb International. His second solo recording of Anton Eberl's sonatas for fortepiano got 5 stars Reviews by Classic Voice and Piano News and "Joker Crescendo Découverte" by Crescendo Maga-zine. His chamber music Cds with his Ensembles G.A.P., Ayre Baroque and Nel Dolce, have been described as “...a superb disc” by MusicWeb International, “a warm commendation” by Fanfare and got "5 de Diapason".
His first Cd as a conductor "Mirrors" with Jeanine De Bique and Concerto Köln for the label Berlin Classics, was praised by the critics (Diapason D'or Découverte, 5 Stars by Forum-Opera, The Times, BBC Music Magazine and MUSICA, Gramophone Editor's Choice, OPUS KLASSIK, OPERA MAGAZINE - CD of the Month).
One of Luca Quintavalle' s main focuses is the promotion of 20th and 21st century music. He premiered solo 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 several others. His Double-Cd "Italian contemporary music for harpsichord" got 5 stars Reviews by Classic Voice and was considered a "revelation" by Pierre Gervasoni on Le Monde. His next Cd "Mousikē- harpsichord music by contemporary female composers" will be released in December 2022 by the Label Brilliant Classics.
Mr. Quintavalle graduated “summa cum laude” for harpsichord from the Como Conservatory under the tutelage of Giovanni Togni, Stefano Molardi and Paolo Beschi. He studied piano with Ernesto Esposito and László Gyimesi and conducting with Yoichi Sugiyama, Christoph Altstädt and Giancarlo Andretta. As a DAAD stipend-holder, he was awarded a distinction in his studies with Christian Rieger at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and attended courses with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Jesper Christensen, Andrea Marcon, Stefano Demicheli, Christophe Rousset, Andreas Staier, Alexei Lubimov, Julien Salemkour and Francesco Lanzillotta.
He has given masterclasses at the Moscow State University for Art and Culture, in St. Petersburg and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Formerly a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, he currently lectures at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf.