Press Releases

Il Ritmo della Terra (The Rhythm of the Earth) is a chamber work for voice, vibraphone, solo cello, percussion, harpsichord and strings commissioned by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust for percussionist and countertenor Simone Rubino (BBT Fellowship 2020) from Italian cellist and composer Lamberto Curtoni. Inspired by the poetry of renowned Italian writer and playwright Mariangela Gualtieri, it calls us to listen to the healing rhythms of nature and reflect on our place within the natural world. The premiere screening at London’s Wigmore Hall is part of BBT’s 20th anniversary weekend 9-11 June.

The project, originally conceived in 2020, is presented as a 40-minute film that combines inventively staged musical performance with arresting footage of sea, forest and landscapes in rhythmic flux. As such, it becomes a work that embraces the visual beauty and power of nature, as well as the joy and mesmerising intensity of music making. BBT has supported the release of the film for streaming and download, released by First Hand Records who will also release the audio from the film as a digital-only album containing extra movements from Il Ritmo della Terra not heard in the film version.

Rubino sustains a highly successful career as a recitalist and soloist with Europe’s leading orchestras and has taken percussion from the periphery to the centre of the classical, contemporary and even Baroque scene. He has chosen to commit his BBT award to further developing his inter-disciplinary projects, with a hand in composition, directing and staging, as well as singing and playing. The concept of building bridges – between generations, styles and ideas – is central to his experimental creative process, which involves an obvious delight in juxtaposing ancient and modern in particular.

Curtoni comments: “I wanted to give expression to Simone’s musicality and incredible vocal skill. His distinctive voice immediately made me think of bel canto and what it can still offer today to a modern audience. In writing this piece, I wanted to make a string ensemble, percussion instruments and harpsichord co-exist in dialogue with an archaic-sounding vocalism and a very modern instrument like the vibraphone.”

The presentation of Il Ritmo della Terra at Wigmore Hall is part of BBT’s 20th anniversary weekend which celebrates not only two decades of supporting highly talented young musicians, but also reflects on its track record of commissioning over 50 new works for its award winners – the subject of a BBT short film, The Gift of Music which preceds the feature film. The screening directly follows the BBT20 Sunday morning coffee concert in which Rubino performs Bach’s Allemande, Sarabande, and Bourrée I and II from Cello Suite No.3 in C major on marimba – part of an all-Bach soloists recital also featuring pianist Filippo Gorini, violinist Geneva Lewis and harpist Sivan Magen.

Simone plays a key part in BBT20’s opening night on 9 June at Bold Tendencies too; he joins the Multi-Story Orchestra for the premiere of Verified, a large-scale work exploring the complexities of social media through music, specially created for BBT20 (with a BBT Communities grant) by the orchestra’s Young Creatives and musicians with their co-founder composer Kate Whitley, herself a BBT award-winner in 2014. The event takes place in Peckham’s former multi-storey car park, now a dynamic cultural hub in the city.

Il Ritmo della Terra is the first of two new BBT-supported projects for Rubino; Das Lied eines Teleskops is the second venture which will premiere this summer at the Bad Kissingen Summer Festival on 16 July.

IL RITMO DELLA TERRA (The Rhythm of the Earth)
for voice, vibraphone, solo cello, percussion, harpsichord and strings (2020)
Simone Rubino voice, percussion, vibraphone •
Lamberto Curtoni composer, cello solo & narrator • Mariangela Gualtieri text

Live Music Now Musicians:
Bomi Song violin, Hani Song violin
Yushan Li viola
Johannes Välja cello
Kalle Jonathan Helm double bass
Moritz Knapp percussion, Christina Lehaci percussion
Johanna Soller harpsichord

Recorded at Langes Haus Karpfsee, Nantesbuch Bad Tölz District, Germany, 26–30 September 2020 Recorded and produced by Balázs Bӧrӧcz • Mixed and edited by Péter Erdélyi

Released by First Hand Records from 16 June: available for streaming and download on Amazon Prime and Naxos Video Library

SIMONE RUBINO percussion, counter tenor. www.simonerubino.com

• Born: 1993 Turin, Italy
• Training: Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory Turin with Riccardo Balbinutti, then with Peter Sadlo in Munich
• Awards: winner ARD competition 2014, Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award 2016, BBT Fellowship 2020
• Soloist: engagements include Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestre National de Lyon and Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestras, under the baton of such maestros as Tan Dun, Manfred Honeck, Kristian Järvi, Zubin Mehta, Michael Sanderling and Tugan Sokhiev
• Collaborations: include with the Labèque sisters and Beatrice Rana
• :Festivals: a regular guest at the likes of Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and La Folle Journée (France and Japan). Multi-disciplinary projects: Il Ritmo della Terra conceived during lockdown in 2020 with music by Lamberto Curtoni; The Little Prince inspired by Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince with original music by Peter Wittrich premièred in December 2021 at the Heidelberg Spring Music Festival; Das Lied eines Teleskops for premiere in July 2023 at Bad Kissingen Summer Festival
• Recordings: include Fuga y Misterio – works by Bach and Piazzola with Chimera Ensemble directed by Eduardo Egüez (2020); X-Mas (Farao Classic 2019) – contemporary carols with baritone Dietrich Henschel and Ensemble United Berlin under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski; Water and Spirit (Sony 2019), Zeit und Ewigkeit (Farao Classic 2018) and Immortal Bach (Genuin 2017)
• Teaching: Professor of percussion since 2019 at Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and visiting professor at Berlin University of the Arts
  

  Simone Rubino, Mariangela Gualtieri, Lamberto Curtoni