We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matteo Generani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matteo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I truly believe that the concept of sharing is fundamentally important as a pianist. We share music, notions, history, and emotions. In 2020, as I was preparing a lecture on Italian keyboard music, I discovered, by chance, the name of Giuseppe Martucci. I couldn’t believe I had never known about him. I felt the urge to research more, and almost immediately I felt the urge to share my findings, my understanding, and my discoveries about Martucci.

Martucci was an Italian concert pianist, pedagogue, composer, and conductor born in a small town near Naples called Capua in 1856. At a time when musical life in Italy was centered almost exclusively around the opera house, Martucci committed to raising the cultural level of Italian audiences by divulging orchestral and instrumental music. He became a vastly influential figure during his lifetime, and he was once acclaimed all over Europe. He received praises from Liszt and Brahms and performed with the major orchestras of the time. Immediately after his death, a strong legacy began: Mahler himself conducted Martucci’s music during his brief tenure with the New York Philharmonic, and over the years Martucci has been performed by conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Riccardo Muti, and pianists such as Sergio Fiorentino and Carmen Scalcione. Unfortunately, this legacy became weaker and weaker, and gradually, his name became buried in the past, slowly becoming neglected.

As I was gradually discovering, reading, and listening to the few recordings available, I quickly became very passionate about his music. In the past three years, I have learned and studied around thirty works by Martucci, the majority of which are for solo piano. I started sharing with the world my passion for Martucci since that lecture, back in 2020. I have so far publicly performed Martucci Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 59, I dedicated the first half of a piano recital in Wichita and one in Kansas City to Martucci’s solo piano music. I performed his Violin Sonata Op. 22 with the Medhelan Duo in Brussels and Vercelli (Italy). I have also presented a conference presentation on Martucci at the 2022 MTNA Conference at Bethel College. The biggest Martucci project I have embarked on so far has been the recording of a CD scheduled to be released in 2024 of 17 pieces for solo piano by Martucci, more than half of which have never been recorded before.

Sharing the music of Martucci is now one of my biggest dedications.

Matteo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Matteo Generani, and I am an Italian pianist. I started playing piano when I was 10. After I graduated from the Conservatory of Pavia, Italy, in 2017, I moved to the US for my Master’s Degree at Central Michigan University. Today, I am a Doctoral Candidate in Piano Performance at the University of Kansas City, a student of pianist Alon Goldstein.

I love to play with an orchestra. Among my performances we can name the Piano Concerto No. 5 by Saint-Saëns with the Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra in 2021, and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Bethel College Orchestra in 2023. I also love playing chamber music.

I currently have two chamber music ensembles: the Neo-Art Piano Duo with pianist Regina Tanujaya, and the Medhelan Duo with violinist Doriano Di Domenico. The Neo-Art Piano Duo had its debut at the Steinway Piano Gallery in Kansas City and has been recently invited to perform as a guest artist by the Emerald Coast Music Alliance for a ten days residency in Destin, Florida. Regina and I are also the Co-Artistic Directors of Classical Music Express. An organization founded by Tenson Liang that aims to bring classical music concerts to the community free of charge. The Medhelan Duo won several international competitions, like the 2023 Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition. Among the performances of The Medhelan Duo, we can name the two concerts in Brussels on April 20 and 21, 2023.

In conjunction with performing, I am also very passionate about teaching. I love to share what I have learned so far with my students. I am currently a piano teacher at the UMKC Academy in Kansas City. I am also a member of the music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon.

Among my future engagements, I am looking forward, this summer, to being in Vienna, as the festival coordinator and assistant to the artistic director of the Piano Lieven Foundation.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a pianist?

Observing the progress of a student, and being able to bring alive scores that otherwise would be lifeless, to make the audience able to experience the music that lies hidden between those black dots on the page.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To share classical music and to let others understand its importance. Classical music can change people’s lives, it can heal, it can bring comfort, it can bring energy, it can entertain, and in general, it enriches lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://matteogenerani.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matteo.pianist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matteogenerani
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7GLx0eFyy-Dz_WYOQeYnMg