Roberto Cacciapaglia Queen's Hall Edinburgh 4th April 2024 Review
Roberto Cacciapaglia was at the Queen’s Hall Edinburgh tonight (a concert that was re-scheduled from September 2023) performing a selection of music from his latest album “Invisible Rainbows” alongside some of the most important compositions from his long career in music.
I have to admit that this was my first introduction to Roberto Cacciapaglia and his music and it is always a surprise to me just how insulated we can be at times in the UK from major performance artists in Europe. Milan-born Roberto Cacciapaglia is a perfect example of this with his decades of experience as a recording artist, compositions that blend classical and electronic music together, operas, film scores, and much more. Despite such a long and distinguished musical career with performances across the world, this tour was Roberto Cacciapaglia’s first performance in Scotland and he was obviously very happy to be here to perform his music for us.
Watching and listening to Roberto Cacciapaglia perform even just a small selection of his extensive catalogue of work in a set lasting some 90 minutes (plus encore), it was obvious that something far more than just someone playing piano was happening on stage this evening. For Roberto Cacciapaglia, music and sound is an immersive experience for him as he enters when he plays a world of his own creativity that allows him to explore a connection with something just beyond the reach of what most of us are able to perceive. Through his music though, we too are invited to experience and explore with Roberto some of these very special places and also a little bit of our own inner-self, perhaps even our souls as there is at times an almost religious experience to this music.
The “Invisible Rainbows” album was released in March 2023 and is available online, along with previews of all the tracks, and the selection of music from it performed tonight, including “Atlantis”, “Moonrise”, “London Sleeps” and “Sonanze II” clearly shows this album to be a very special work of great beauty that has the ability to capture the listener within a timeless bubble that creates soundscapes of wonder and often deep emotions whilst also somehow being calming and restful, almost meditational in parts.
From the introduction to his back catalogue of works, “Wild Side”, “Endless Time” “Oceano” and other music performed tonight, it is clear that much of Roberto Cacciapaglia’s work has a deep connection with the elemental forces of nature and somehow that connection is often almost a spiritual one that is being made at a deeply personal level.
An insight into how connected Roberto Cacciapaglia is to the special acoustic space that music allows him to enter was with his only spoken words to the audience at the end of this show where he invited everyone to join in with him the unique sound of Concert Pitch A, an almost magical sound that is not only what all instruments in an orchestra tune to, but also it seems a little bit of our inner being.
Roberto Cacciapaglia is an almost magical creator of music and sound but also a connection to all of the great composers of classical music of the past whilst having the ability to also create music and sounds for today and for the future.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
I have to admit that this was my first introduction to Roberto Cacciapaglia and his music and it is always a surprise to me just how insulated we can be at times in the UK from major performance artists in Europe. Milan-born Roberto Cacciapaglia is a perfect example of this with his decades of experience as a recording artist, compositions that blend classical and electronic music together, operas, film scores, and much more. Despite such a long and distinguished musical career with performances across the world, this tour was Roberto Cacciapaglia’s first performance in Scotland and he was obviously very happy to be here to perform his music for us.
Watching and listening to Roberto Cacciapaglia perform even just a small selection of his extensive catalogue of work in a set lasting some 90 minutes (plus encore), it was obvious that something far more than just someone playing piano was happening on stage this evening. For Roberto Cacciapaglia, music and sound is an immersive experience for him as he enters when he plays a world of his own creativity that allows him to explore a connection with something just beyond the reach of what most of us are able to perceive. Through his music though, we too are invited to experience and explore with Roberto some of these very special places and also a little bit of our own inner-self, perhaps even our souls as there is at times an almost religious experience to this music.
The “Invisible Rainbows” album was released in March 2023 and is available online, along with previews of all the tracks, and the selection of music from it performed tonight, including “Atlantis”, “Moonrise”, “London Sleeps” and “Sonanze II” clearly shows this album to be a very special work of great beauty that has the ability to capture the listener within a timeless bubble that creates soundscapes of wonder and often deep emotions whilst also somehow being calming and restful, almost meditational in parts.
From the introduction to his back catalogue of works, “Wild Side”, “Endless Time” “Oceano” and other music performed tonight, it is clear that much of Roberto Cacciapaglia’s work has a deep connection with the elemental forces of nature and somehow that connection is often almost a spiritual one that is being made at a deeply personal level.
An insight into how connected Roberto Cacciapaglia is to the special acoustic space that music allows him to enter was with his only spoken words to the audience at the end of this show where he invited everyone to join in with him the unique sound of Concert Pitch A, an almost magical sound that is not only what all instruments in an orchestra tune to, but also it seems a little bit of our inner being.
Roberto Cacciapaglia is an almost magical creator of music and sound but also a connection to all of the great composers of classical music of the past whilst having the ability to also create music and sounds for today and for the future.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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