Flavio: I started playing the piano when I was nine. There was a small piano at home because my mother Claudia studied music in her youth. My first professor  Maria Soghitta was a private teacher in Treviso, where I lived then. After few years I became a student of Aldo Guizzo, a pianist of Teatro “ La Fenice” in Venice, at the Musical Institute of Treviso. Later I was admitted to the Venice Music Conservatory “Benedetto Marcello”: Eugenio Bagnoli was my teacher until I received my Diploma.

After the Conservatory I studied with the Italian pianist Bruno Mezzena for several years. In the same period I also studied composition under the guidance of Ugo Amendola, who was the Director of the Conservatory of Venice for many years.

Teresa:  Music has always fascinated me. When I was a child I remember that I sang famous Italian songs with my mother. My father, who played a drum in a local “Big Band”, often amused me with rhytmic games.

I started taking piano lessons when I was nine. Maria Puxeddu, my first teacher, was a professor of the Music Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini” in Trieste and I was a private student of her for ten years. Later I enrolled in the Trieste Conservatory as a student of Luciano Gante, one of the most important Italian teachers at the time. I graduated cum laude and received an honorary mention there.

Afterwards I had an opportunity to study with Aquiles Delle Vigne. I completed my musical training with him and I was his assistant at the Ecole Normale de Musique “A.Cortot” in Paris. I also studied the organ with Maria Puxeddu and I passed my first exam at the Music Conservatory “Benedetto Marcello” in Venice.

MOL: Was either of your parents a musician?

Flavio:  My mother, Claudia, studied the piano, following her family tradition. She was born in Pola, an Italian city with a lot of deep musical influences from Austria and her teacher was a friend of Franz Léhar .

Teresa: My parents were both keen on music. As I mentioned, my father played the drums in a jazz band, but he wasn't a professional musician.

MOL: Do you have to change the style of your playing because you are now playing duo?

Flavio:  I didn't change my style of playing. I was strongly influenced by Maestro Eugenio Bagnoli, the celebrated chamber musician and a member of the famous Gorini and Bagnoli Piano Duo, one of the most important and well-known piano duos in Europe. I mainly forcus on sound and balance of the whole, which is a key to chamber music as well as  in the solo performance.

Teresa: I had to change my style of playing because I had to change my partner and Flavio comes from a different school. My first piano partner was my brother Filippo: he was younger than I and we both recieved same musical training from same school. We played as a piano duo from 1989 until the tenth of November 2001 when  Filippo died before his time in an accident. After that I stopped playing the piano for long time.

In September 2002, my dearest friends Milica and Kiril Ribarski invited me to the Festival of Bitola in Macedonia: I thought it was time that I was to start my life and my musical life again. Flavio encouraged me to start and we studied the Bach Brandenburg Concertos together, my last recording with my brother (in an arrangement for piano duet by Max Reger with the revision of Filippo). I only can start another piano duo only with somebody that I love. Our differences are a reason for growth in the way that we compare and shape ideas.

MOL: In your opinion, what is the key factor(s) in piano duo playing vs. solo playing?

Flavio and Teresa: The key factor in piano duo playing is the ability to listen to each other. We have to fuse our performances to make a whole.  In our opinion solo playing often allows the privilege of expressing personal emotions and virtuosity. It often happens that a pianist forgets he is in the service of the composer and his music: he also listens to himself and he is worried about showing his talent.

The duo offers a great avantage in this sense: we have an equal share in our performance and the result depends on a perfect balance between two parts.

MOL: Do you teach? If so, where?

Flavio: I teach at the Music Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini” in Trieste www.conservatorio.trieste.it where I live. I taught before at  Music Conservatory “ Benedetto Marcello” of Venice for eleven years.

Teresa: I' ve taught for six years at the Music Conservatory “Giuseppe Tartini” of Trieste too. Before I taught at the Music Conservatory “Gaetano Donizetti” in Bergamo for ten years and  also at the Music Conservatory “Jacopo Tomadini” of Udine.

MOL: What do you mostly emphasize to your students and why?

Flavio: First, I try to emphasize the details and the respect of the musical text. I also  try to transmit the art of sound.  Maestro Bagnoli said: “Everyone has the sound that he merits”. When you listen to a singer, you first appreciate the voice quality. So when you listen to a player, you must first enjoy a good sound.

Teresa: In addition, I would also say the precision of the rhythm and in the analysis of music - or understanding of the composition.

MOL: Do you practice what you preach to your students?

Flavio and Teresa: If we put into practice all the recommandations to our students, we would be two extraordinary pianists ...We try of course!

MOL: Do you have a practicing method you follow everyday?

Flavio and Teresa: In our daily practicing there is an athletic part: so we begin our day with some technical exercises. Following this we practice some Chopin  Studios and Bach Preludes and Fugues, that we consider a fondamental “exercice” in a method of a pianist. After this regular and individual routine, we practice together unless we are learning some new musical works.

MOL: How do you prepare yourself (duo) on the day of performance?

Flavio and Teresa:  The day of performance is not  different from any other day. So we don't do anything special. We only worry about getting plenty of rest, that is not always possible.

MOL: How much or often do you practice basic (tone production, breathing, etc.)? If so, what kind of basic do you practice?

Flavio and Teresa:  After our personal training, we decide what we have to practice everyday: it depends on how much time we have. When we teach at the Conservatory, our short practice time is completely dedicated on focusing on the most difficult passages. If we have more time, we dedicate a part of our time playing the pieces that we choose to study on that day, separately and together.

We spend a part of our practice time studying or performing the repertoire of our students: that is important so we can suggest and show how they can solve the various technical and musical problems.

MOL: How do you select repertoire for your recital?

Flavio and Teresa: In our preceding experiences of duo playing we both have developed a deep knowledge of the main repertoire of four hands and piano duos. Our duo was born with the aim of showing the Filippo's work on the Reger-Bach Brandenburg Concertos transcription. Nowadays, we also intend to deepen knowledge of some pieces which are less well-known or performed infrequently. We try to choose anything that the public enjoys. As regards to a recording, we also try to explore some pieces which we have not been recorded previously, if possible.

MOL: How do you select repertoire for your concerto performance?

Flavio and Teresa: It depends on the performance occasions, partners, orchestras...

MOL: Do you perform regularly these days? If so, how many concerts do you have a year?

Flavio and Teresa: It also depends on various factors. First, we don't have an agent and Teresa promotes our duo. The italian musical agencies and the playbills grant a privilege to the great artists, to the international prizes winners and to foreign artists. It isn't easy for us to perform regularly. Secondly, a piano duo needs two pianists and two pianos, if possible: that is too expensive! Thirdly, the Italian Governement frequently takes away the fund given to culture, especially to classical music. This is not encouraging environment for classical musicians! Fortunately we are going to perform at Trieste Conservatory in December, at the Theater of Treviso, to Finland and at the Ravello Festival next year. There are also several concerts under negotiation.

MOL: What period music do you enjoy playing the most and why?

Flavio: I don't have a favorite period of music but sometimes I enjoy playing some composers rather than others. It depends on my mood.

Teresa:  Bach has made a very strong impression on me: I consider his Preludes and Fugues the perfect music. My favorite period is impressionism for their refined and resonant atmospheres.

MOL: In your opinion, what is your strength in your playing (you as an individual) and Duo?

Flavio: My strength lies in expressing my emotion with control and be able to produce a good sound...  As regards to duo, in addition to possessing a solid technical foundation, we believe we deliver very strong rhythm and above all, producing variety of tone that captures the audience.

Teresa:  My personal strength in my opinion is the clearness delivering my ideas through the instrument and my powerful tone.

MOL: What do you hope to accomplish as a musician?

Flavio and Teresa: We have to pass on an important musical tradition that I feel we are in danger of losing them. It is important that new and younger generations can appreciate also different musical genres.

MOL: Do you like any other forms of art? such as painting? a favorite writer? Tell us about it.

Flavio: Of course I appreciate and I am delighted by the other forms of art (...is sailing a form of art....?) even if I am not a deep connoisseur. I prefer the art of the Italian thirteenth and fourteenth centuries not only for the artistic fact but also for the deep culture that underlies of these works. For this reason, I think we can compare Dante Alighieri's  “Divina Commedia” with nothing else. I am also interested in technical  works on sailing and motors and in historical readings about Istria, the region of my family.

Teresa:  If I hadn't played the piano, I would have became an archeologist or an architect. I had a classical education and I studied Latin and Greek. So I am fascinated about the Greek and Roman periods. At the same time, I like modern architecture and its linearity and essentality: My favourite architects are Renzo Piano and Gae Aulenti. As regards painting, I prefer modern art until Picasso, Mondrian but also Modigliani, Klimt...my list is very very long!

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to read, but I like reading all the time. I am interested in the usages and costumes of different people and cultures. My favourite italian writers are Dacia Maraini and Alvise Zorzi with his books about Venice history.

Flavio and Teresa:  A good performer is one who deliver the means... between the probable intentions of the composer, the text, and who dedicates himself at the service of the music. In this direction we consider Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli an example that we cannot imitate.

What do you hope to accomplish as a musician?  Do you feel such impact may alter the view of western music?

We have to pass on an important musical tradition that we feel that is to say are in danger of losing. Actually we can only describe the facts we know well, that the musical life of Italy and West Europe. The concert-hall audience essentially consists of old people; there are a few young music students or professional musicians. It is very rare to meet young people who are passionate about music or amateurs players. There are many reasons and it would take too long to consider them now. If this situation doesn't change in the future, we will end up playing only to other musicians or by ourselves.

In this kind of musical dark age it is important that we keep a torch a light in order to pass on our interpretative tradition to posterity and hope for a Renaissance. We mustn't forget that the other forms of art, painting for example, don't need on an interpreter between the creator and the public. When a painting that has been buried in an attic for years is discovered, it doesn't need to be performed or interpreted to be appreciated.

If now and in the years to come the interpreters have almond-shaped eyes because of the great interest of Orientals in western classical music, we will accept this and we will enjoy it. Food for thought is that, with regard to arts, the West and Europe (first and foremost Italy) tend not to protect their origins, indeed there is a tendency to deny their heritage and traditions. In short at the same time as rightly welcoming what is different and exotic we feel obliged to abandon our original culture.

MOL: On be half of MusicalOnline, we would like to thank you for your time and we wish all the success.