Borletti-Buitoni Trust
Per la musica, per le donne
Ilaria Borletti Buitioni (centre) with Silvia Colasanti (left) and Beatrice Rana (right)
Following the announcement of Italian composer Silvia Colasanti as the 2021 winner of the Franco Buitoni Award, celebrations finally took place on 9 October, having been postponed from March because of the global pandemic. Amici della Musica di Perugia presented a special concert featuring the world premiere of Love Song, composed by Colasanti in appreciation of the award. Written for piano, percussion and string orchestra, it was performed by pianist Beatrice Rana (BBT Fellowship 2016) with the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia conducted by Enrico Bronzi at Teatro Morlacchi in the historic Umbrian capital city of Perugia.
In front of a capacity audience Ilaria Borletti Buitoni presented Silvia Colasanti with the award certificate and a handmade glass vase specially commissioned from Micheluzzi Glass in Venice, given by Giovanni and Benedetta Buitoni in memory of their uncle.
Franco Buitoni Award presentation 9 October 2021.
L-R Anna Calabro president Perugia Musica Classica, Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, Enrico Bronzi, Silvia Colasanti.
Photo Claudia Ioan
Quote from Ilaria Borletti Buitoni
With this award I am delighted to welcome another highly talented musician, Silvia, into our BBT family. I was overwhelmed by the concert and the occasion; a wonderful new work superbly performed by an outstanding young pianist, Beatrice, who is also one of our BBT artists. What better tribute to my husband – here in his home town with the Amici della Musica, founded by his mother and directed by Franco for so many years.
Quote from Silvia Colasanti
I did not know Franco personally, only through Ilaria and other people dear to him. Love Song is full of powerful and emotive music to express the strong bond between Ilaria and Franco, described to me by so many people. I am deeply honoured to receive this Award.
Rome-born Silvia Colasanti is the recipient of two of Italy’s highest honours – Cavaliere della Repubblica in 2013 and Ufficiale della Repubblica in 2017. Her work has been interpreted by some of world’s finest musicians including Salvatore Accardo, Yuri Bashmet, Nathalie Dessay, David Geringas, Vladimir Jurowski and Quartetto di Cremona, among others. She is highly regarded for the lyrical and dramatic qualities of her music, whether for stage or concert platform. Her first opera, La Metamorfosi, was commissioned by Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2012 and since then the renowned Festival dei 2Mondi di Spoleto has commissioned four operas: Tre Risvegli in 2016, followed in subsequent years by a trilogy of works, Minotauro (2018), Proserpine (2019) and Arianna, Fedra, Didone (2020). Other major works include Le imperdonabili for Remembrance Day in 2017 and Oltre l’azzurro for Opera del Duomo to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence. Her teachers and mentors include Luciano Pelosi at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and Fabio Vacchi, Wolfgang Rihm, Pascal Dusapin and Azio Corghi. Her work is published by Ricordi (Universal Music Group).
Quartetto di Cremona was the winner of the second Franco Buitoni Award, announced on 17 March 2019 – Franco’s birthday. The quartet received £25,000 and a specially commissioned glass sculpture, entitled Suono, made by Venice-based artist Ritsue Mishima and given by Franco’s niece and nephew, Benedetta and Giovanni Buitoni, in special memory of their uncle.
Benedetta and Giovanni Buitoni, Ilaria Borletti Buitoni and the Quartetto di Cremona.
Photo: Valeria Raffaele
Read Susan Rivers’ blog about the presentation at Milan’s Villa Necchi
Ilaria Borletti Buitoni:
I decided to create this award in memory of Franco who loved music so much and who founded BBT with me in 2002. Lieder and chamber music were his special passion and something he also promoted in his role as chairman of Amici della Musica in his home town of Perugia. So I wanted to focus on our country for this second award – with Italian musicians who promote and encourage chamber music in Italy and throughout the world. I very much admire Quartetto di Cremona and all they do. They have developed a wonderful reputation worldwide since 2005 when we awarded them a BBT Fellowship.
Suono by Ritsue Mishima for the Franco Buitoni Award 2019. Photo Valeria Raffaele
Quartetto di Cremona.
Photo: Valeria Raffaele
Simone Gramaglia viola, Quartetto di Cremona:
We are so honoured to receive this recognition thanks to Ilaria’s enlightened sensitivity and vision. We know how much Franco did for music and how he loved it. It will be a special pleasure for us to honour Franco’s passion for chamber music as we continue to promote and encourage it in Italy and throughout the world.
This award enabled the Quartet to record Italian Postcards, an album of chamber works inspired by the beauty of Italy, as well as establish a fund to send Italian luthiers to Albania to provide free assessments, reports and adjustments to instruments and bows for the young musicians they teach as part of an ongoing Italian Institute of Culture at the University of Arts in Tirana.
György and Márta Kurtág were the recipients of the inaugural Franco Buitoni Award in recognition of their distinguished contribution to the world of music, as well as their long and devoted musical partnership.
They were nominated by Mitsuko Uchida, founder BBT Trustee and long-time friend of Ilaria and Franco. She and Ilaria travelled to Budapest to present the award on 19 February 2017, the day of the Kurtág’s 70th wedding anniversary and György’s 91st birthday.
György and Márta Kurtág. Photo Marco Borggreve
Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, Márta Kurtág, Mitsuko Uchida and György Kurtág. Photo © BMC / Bálint Hrotkó
Ilaria Borletti Buitoni said:
My husband, Franco, passed away last August. He and I founded BBT in 2002 to help talented young musicians develop their careers. From the very beginning we were pleased to have the artistic guidance and ideas of our founding trustee, Mitsuko Uchida, who was also a dear friend to Franco. I wanted to honour my husband’s lifetime of loving and supporting music with this special award and there seemed no better person to nominate a worthy recipient than Mitsuko.
Mitsuko Uchida‘s citation runs as follows:
Intense, mysterious, dark, otherworldly and innig; these are the words that come to my mind when I think of György Kurtág’s music. He is inspirational and fiercely honest but there is also a deep love that glows through his music. This may be an expression of his extraordinary relationship with his wife, Márta. Anybody who has heard the Kurtágs play, four hands, would know what that means. We know György Kurtág the great composer but with him always is Márta the wonderful pianist. They live music together. We have all been so lucky to have known them and their music, me especially.
Zoltán Fejérvári (right) at the presentation. Photo © BMC / Bálint Hrotkó
Márta and György Kurtág and Mitsuko Uchida. Photo © BMC / Bálint Hrotkó
The presentation took place at the Budapest Music Centre. Hungarian pianist Zoltán Fejérvári (BBT Fellowship winner 2016) was also delighted to attend and has written a blog about the event. Read it here.
Read the Press Release here.
Márta Kurtág (1 October 1927 − 17 October 2019)
We were saddened to hear of the death of Márta Kurtág in October. Along with her husband György, Márta was the recipient of the first Franco Buitoni Award in 2017.
The next Franco Buitoni Award will be announced in March 2025