ALIAS, Contemporary Music for an Early Instrument, the Viola d'Amore. Recording of a CD

Project location: ITALY, Rome
Project start date: January 2018 - Project end date: August 2019
Project number: 2017-067
Beneficiary: Associazione Culturale Musicale Musicangelica


ALIAS is contemporary music written by the Italian composer Elvira Muratore, conveyed to the hands of Valerio Losito, tailored to suit perfectly the warm sound of the 1775 Ferdinando Gagliano’s Viola d’Amore, property of the Elsa Peretti Foundation.

Two Italian young artists, a composer and a renowned baroque violin and viola d'amore player, joined their skills to create the ALIAS music project, an unique contemporary music project dedicated to one the most fascinating instruments of the past, the Viola d’Amore.

Since 2006 Valerio Losito plays a Viola d’Amore built in Naples in 1775 by Ferdinando Gagliano, property of the Elsa Peretti Foundation; the chance to perform on an exceptional musical instrument as the Ferdinando Gagliano Viola d’Amore actually is, gave a turn to Valerio Losito’s career as a Viola d’Amore soloist. In ten years he became one of the most renowned soloists of this rare and beautiful instrument. Losito, being in the same time performer and researcher, deeply studied the Viola d’Amore repertoire from baroque music to modern times.

After having attended the master degree in Violoncello, the Italian composer Elvira Muratore graduates in 2011 with the highest acclaim in musical composition. After her degree, Elvira attended a one year long master class holded by the composer Ivan Fedele. She also attended master classes with the composers Andrea Portera, Nadir Vassena and Klaus Huber. Elvira’s music is regularly performed by orchestras and ensembles worldwide.

The meeting of Valerio and Elvira made real a great wish: since some years Losito wanted to create a new repertoire for his intrument, and the collaboration between the two artists has permitted to create the ALIAS project.

The main challenge was how to use Viola d’Amore as a contemporary music instrument, and which kind of music could be created to build a musical bridge from the early music to the future. The answer was found in Elvira's clear and fascinating musical language, and the excellence of the viola Gagliano compared to all other violas d'amore gave to the composer infinite creative possibilities and musical nouances. Moreover, this music is written specially for sound possibilities of the Gagliano Viola d’Amore and “tailored” on it’s exceptional sound.

The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation awarded a grant for the ALIAS project, which involves producing a CD recording. All recorded music is written for solo Viola d’Amore without any accompaniment and refers to ALIAS musical project.

The music on the Cd recording will be displayed in five “chapters” meaning five different nuances of Love, because of the name of our instrument, the Viola d'Amore (in italian the "love's viola"), and the “Love/Amore” will be the main musical achievement; it will be investigated in five chapters, and in five different nuances:
"Narcissus"; "Love After Death"; "The Divine Love" or "The Beatitudes"; "Haiku" or a "Transfigured Love"; "Vivamus" or "A Human Love".

Every musical chapter, every love’s declination, refer to a text of great literature (Ovidius, Catullus, Edgar Allan Poe, Saint Matthew’s Gospel) because ALIAS is a musical bridge that connects the earthly with the divine, and the Past with our Present, or rather, Contemporary.

ALIAS is not only music, is a musical world: through musical sounds we create an idea. “ALIAS” in Latin means “the other”: this is what we choose to keep untold to protect it from misunderstanding and manipulation, even when its presence is obvious and irrefutable.

ALIAS is exploration and versatility; an artistic collaboration in pursuit of the ultimate beauty; it will be a Cd, but, after recording, will became also a recital, a theatrical piece, a series of concerts for solo viola and ensemble, with an unlimited amount of possibilities.

To record new music like this is an important contribution to the Viola d’Amore cultural heritage, and investigate a kind of repertoire not common for this instrument: very few contemporary music for Viola d’Amore was written.

The distribution of this throughout the world of this Cd will give more visibility to the Peretti Viola d’Amore Gagliano and his main performer, Valerio Losito, continuing in a musical path started in the seventeenth century and going on to the future.

According to the recording label policy, the publication of the Cd is expected within August 2019.
Associazione Culturale Musicale Musicangelica
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