Alessio Elia: Celestial Keys Concerto Budapest Ligeti, Chigiana Academy of Music, The National Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Concerto Budapest Orchestra

• Alessio Elia (1979): Luminescences (2005):
• 1 Elia: Luminescences (2005) 05:52
• Disappearing Rainbows (2015):
• 2 Elia: Disappearing Rainbows (2015) 10:57
• Dimensioni nascoste (2013):
• 3 Elia: Dimensioni nascoste (2013) 13:11
• Implicate Inklings Clarinet Concerto (2018-19):
• 4 Elia: Implicate Inklings Clarinet Concerto (2018-19) 26:18
• Celestial Keys (2023):
• 5 Elia: Celestial Keys (2023) 09:53
• Total Runtime 01:06:11

Info for Alessio Elia: Celestial Keys

Alessio Elia’s (b.1979) compositions are inspired by the acoustic nature of the sounding universe, its inner laws. Perhaps this is why, from the first moment of listening, these works feel organic natural and euphonic but also ordered, planned and clear.

The composition Celestial Keys, which lends its name to the whole album, does not claim to reveal universal truths in any sense, nor does it attempt to unlock a magic box containing deep secrets. As with the other works on the programme, Elia aims to demonstrate that the world is perhaps wider for perception than for reason.

He reveals that each of these compositions represents ‘an exploration of other dimensions.

In Luminescences, we encounter the phenomenon of light; in Disappearing Rainbows, we explore the residual traces of colours. Dimensioni nascoste delves into the extra, hidden dimensions of string theory. Implicate Inklings unveils the implicate order of the holographic theory of the universe. Finally, Celestial keys transports us to the realm of angels and the supernatural.’

Several of these works feature Elia’s signature compositional approach: Polysystemism, which involves the simultaneous use of different tuning systems.

Recordings date from August 2005 (Siena), September 2013, October 2015, May 2019 and November 2023 (Budapest). All works are given in their First Recordings.

Booklet in English contains liner notes by Szabolcs Molnár, profiles of the composer, the conductors, the soloists, the orchestras and ensembles, as wel as the sung text for Celestial keys.

Marco Ortolani, clarinet
Concerto Budapest Ligeti Ensemble
László Tihanyi, conductor
Chigiana Academy of Music Ensemble
Mauro Bonifacio, conductor
The National Hungarian Radio Orchestra
Gergely Vajda, conductor
Csaba Klenyán, clarinet
Concerto Budapest Orchestra
Zoltán Rácz, conductor
Márta Murányi, soprano
Judit Szathmáry soprano

Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra
is one of Hungary’s leading orchestras, with its rich history and dynamism of its young musicians. It is one of the most progressive and versatile symphonic orchestras, whose playing is characterized by the passion, energy, and commitment that its musicians give to their performances of repertoire ranging from well-loved masterpieces to newly composed works of the twenty-first century. Through its ambitious and innovative programs and special sound, it has brought a new colour to Hungary’s musical palette.

Concerto Budapest is one of Hungary’s oldest ensembles with more than 100 years of history, its predecessor was founded in 1907. In 2007, on its 100th anniversary, András Keller, world-renowned Hungarian violinist, pedagogue, and the founder of the Keller Quartet, was appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the orchestra. Under his leadership, the orchestra underwent a major period of artistic growth and development, as the foremost young chamber musicians have joined him.

András Keller’s innovative concert programs are designed to engage both musicians and audience members alike in a dialogue with the music. To heighten this tension, old masterpieces are often heard alongside contemporary pieces, often illuminating new aspects of both works that are a result of that particular pairing.

Highly acclaimed Hungarian musicians such as Dezső Ránki, Dénes Várjon, Barnabás Kelemen, and Miklos Perényi are regular guests of the orchestra, in addition to Concerto Budapest’s returning international guest soloists and collaborators, who include Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich, Vadim Repin, Heinz Holliger, Isabelle Faust, Khatia Buniatishvili, Anna Vinnitskaya, Mikhail Pletnev and Evgeni Koroliov.

Concerto Budapest' repertoire ranges from virtuosic, large-scale symphonic works from Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich to classical concertos from Mozart or Beethoven, or contemporary pieces from Thomas Adés, Lera Auerbach, György Kurtág, Krzysztof Penderecki and László Vidovszky, among others.

Concerto Budapest has become a well-respected player on the international music scene, performing to great acclaim in the major cities of China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the United States.

Chigiana Academy of Music
Founded in 1932 by Count Guido Chigi Saracini, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana is a world recognized institution for advanced musical studies.

In its historical palazzo with more than one hundred rooms and a renowned art collection, the Chigiana hosts master-classes, seminars, concert series, and a first class Summer music festival.

World renowned artists among its alumni include Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Maurizio Pollini and Salvatore Accardo, among others.

The Accademia Musicale Chigiana, thanks to its particular origins and the model of culture and of valuing and promoting music that it has represented in the past century and continues to represent, it is internationally recognized still today as one of Italy’s most prestigious musical institutions.

The establishment of the Academy was the most characteristic and distinctive of the ideas implemented by Count Chigi, the Sienese nobleman who not only made his home the center of intense musical activity but also, with his personal initiatives, succeeded in transforming the atmosphere of his beloved city, contributing in this way to opening it up and welcoming people from all over the world.

Because it was mainly foreign students who came to Siena in 1932 to take part in the first course in musical training held in Palazzo Chigi, taught by prestigious musicians such as Fernando Germani for organ, Claude Gonvierre (and later Casella) for piano, Giulia Varesi Boccabadati for voice, Ada Sassoli Ruata for harp, Arrigo Serato for violin, Arturo Bonucci for cello, and Vito Frazzi for composition.

Over the years, the number of students coming from every continent gradually grew, today representing about fifty nations, and the number of master classes increased in an ongoing exchange between older and younger generations as students became teachers and an integral part of the history of the Academy, whose classrooms have welcomed the best in international music. ...

Alessio Elia
Described as an unicum in the compositional landscape of our times (Il Corriere Musicale) Alessio Elia is today considered among the most original composers of the new generation (la Repubblica, Universal Music Publishing, Universal Edition, Muzsika, Radio Vaticana, RAI Radio 3, Die Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung).

Elia received commissions most importantly from I Solisti del Teatro alla Scala di Milano (Octet), piece released in CD by Warner Classics in 2018, conducted by Andrea Vitello and published by Universal Music Publishing - EMB; Radio Bartók (orchestral piece Trasparenze) for the ArTRIUM series of the National Hungarian Radio Orchestra; Alter Ego ensemble - Manuel Zurria, Francesco Dillon and Emanuele Torquati (L'impermanenza della Memoria - for the Ligeti 100 Festival) for a project including commissions to Peter Eötvös, Toshio Hosokawa, Peter Ablinger, Lukas Ligeti, László Sáry and Howard Skempton; Impronta ensemble (Traces from Nowhere) for the Oggimusica Festival in Lugano; UMZE - the historical ensemble founded by Bartók (Ekpyrotic Suicide); Wiener Collage, with members of the Wiener Philharmoniker (Outskirts of matter); Antal Dorati Conducting Competition (Distimement for large orchestra) as a compulsory piece for the final round of the conducting contest; Stuttgart Kammerchor conducted by Frieder Bernius (Incantesimi di Merseburg); Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome (Il Canto segreto, im memoriam Giovanni Piazza).

Guest composer and researcher at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, the State University of Debrecen, the Zoltán Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, the Sacher Foundation in Basel, and the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, he was also lecturer in composition in 2010 at the latter.

His music has been performed in significant concert halls and festivals worldwide (Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome; Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest; Menuhin Festival in Oslo; Festival Mahler in Budapest; Accademia Filarmonica Romana; BMC - Budapest Music Center; Bartók Hall of Palace of Arts – The National Auditorium in Budapest; Levinsalen and Lindemansalen in Oslo; Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna; LAC - Lugano Arte e Cultura Auditorium; National Hungarian Radio Studios; Forum Neue Musik - Palais Prinz Carl in Heidelberg; Auditorium del Parco by Renzo Piano in L'Aquila; Oggimusica Festival in Lugano; Contemporary Arts Festival Budapest; Yamaha Concert Hall Wien; Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome; Dresden Kulturpalast, etc.).

Elia’s works were broadcast by state radios and TV channels, such as: Radio Bartók (Hungary); Saarländischer Rundfunk (Germany); RAI Radio 3 (Italy); Magyar Televízió and Duna TV (Hungarian State TV); Radio Vaticana.

He has released interviews about his music for: Cité de la musique in Paris, Magyar Televízió and Duna TV, Bartók Radio, Radio Vaticana, Dal+Szerző - Magazine of the Hungarian Bureau for the Protection of Authors’ Rights, Muzsika - the most important Hungarian journal for classical music, Musica +, Budapest Music Centre, RAI Radio 3 Suite, RAI Cultura, and the Peter Eötvös Foundation.

His activity as a composer and researcher has taken him on a tour of conferences around Europe (Norway, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Italy etc.), among them the most important were at:

Cité de la musique in Paris; Internationales Musikinstitute Darmstadt; Accademia Filarmonica Romana; Chigiana Academy in Siena; Canal C2 - Université de Strasbourg; The Hungarian Academy of Arts; Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Mannheim; Norwegian Academy of Music; The University of Performing Arts Prague; Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik in Hamburg during the Symposium "Ligeti und die Mikrotonalität", presented by Louise Duchesneau, secretary of Ligeti, with the extraordinary contribution of Paul Griffiths, first biographer of Ligeti. ....

Booklet for Alessio Elia: Celestial Keys