Italian Pianist Found Work Enjoyed In East

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30106, 15 April 1963, Page 11

Italian Pianist Found Work Enjoyed In East

In his four-mouth tour of tihe Middle and Far East, the distinguished Italian musicologist and pianist. Dr. Cesare Valabrega, has found a great desire to hear, learn about and understand Western music among all the peoples of the East. Dr. Valabrega arrived in Christchurch last evening from Sydney. His tour includes 10 days in New Zealand, during which he will give one concert in Christchurch, two in Wellington and one in Auckland. The tour is under the auspices of the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, U.N.E.5.C.0., the Dante Alighieri Society and •he Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East.

Since leaving Italy in midDecember, Dr. Valabrega has played in many Asian countries, and has been pleased ait his reception.

“If the music interests them, they respond very fully,” he said of his Eastern audiences.

In the same period, he has heard a great deal of Eastern music. This he considers to be monotonous to the Westerner as there is so little development in it. However, he found a great versatility in the use of the voice and throat compared with the singing of the West. Dr. Valabrega is professor of the history of music at

the Naples Conservatory and professor of music, for advanced, culture courses for foreigners at the University of Perugia. He is the author of studies of the life and Works of Domenico Scarlatti, J. S. Bach and Schumann. His concert tomorrow evening in the University of Canterbury Hall will be a recital of 14 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. He will play the piano, although he is equally proficient on the harpsichord. However, before playing the latter instrument he requires three or four days for practice and this, with the exception of his stay in Sydney, his crowded schedule has denied him.

Dr. Valabrega feels that the technique of Scarlatti is the precursor of that of the piano, and for this reason he prefers to play these works on the piano to demonstrate this most forcibly to students. He said he regretted that his time in New Zealand would not be sufficient to enable him to devote himself to instructing advanced students here. Tomorrow evening’s concert, which will begin at 8 p.m., will be given under the auspices of the Christchurch Dante Alighieri Society and the University of Canterbury’s school of music. Admission will be free.