„My interest in Ferruccio Busoni’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Male links me with the composer. His memorial in Berlin in a small, historic grave-yard in Friedenau, not far from my apartment, brought home to me that I, as he once did, live in Berlin—only a century later. Over the years a deep intellectual internalizing of German culture has made me consider Germany as my homeland of choice, and to rediscover my Italian roots at the same time. I never thought that such facts would provide me with an exclusive access to Busoni’s work, simply because of our shared spiritual dualcitizenship. They were, however, the decisive point of departure that inspired and formed my interpretative horizon.

The present CD represents the result of my first cooperation with the German conductor Stefan Malzew, and reproduces the concert of 17 January 2008 which was recorded live and broadcast throughout Germany by Deutschlandradio Kultur Berlin (according to the producers, we had 100,000 listeners). We have attempted to rework the tempo ratios of this five-movement piano concerto, and, in particular, to take into account the breadth of the form-arc. In doing so, we wanted to attain the highest level of musical continuity and to highlight the emotional unity of the work.“