Casa Ricordi prensents the new Marco Betta CD

Marco Betta's album is part of the three-year programme for the bicentennial celebrations of Casa Ricordi that has been dedicated to Ferruccio Barbera, in recognition of him being one of the first true interpreters and supporters of this big event.

According to the words of the President Tino Cennamo "the Marco Betta album was inspired by Ferruccio Barbera's universal vision of culture and music, uniting emotion, expression, thoughts beauty and the passion of life."

This album, which will be available starting March 23^rd, 2007, also marks the start of a new publishing adventure, the series Le musiche del Bicentenario (Two Hundred Years of Music), involving many internationally acclaimed artists.

Il viaggio di Ferruccio, was created to represent Italian culture. It is a musical project that gives a sound to the land and the spirit of the Mediterranean, a central theme in the Sicilian composer's music.

The ten music tracks in the album, that alternate between instrumental pieces Southern Italy, the ever-present sea, the harshness of certain landscapes, the wisdom and the nobility of tradition and history. The choice of using a classical arrangement such as a string quartet with piano, in addition to the splendid voice of  Anita Vitale, have allowed Marco Betta to achieve a richness of tone and an extraordinary harmony, while interpreting the moderness of the composition.

The album is enriched by two tracks from the soundtrack of the movie Viaggio segreto by Roberto Andò, as well as by a text by Rocco Mortelliti, taken from the opera Che fine ha fatto la piccola Irene? (What happened to little Irene?) by Andrea Camilleri. Three previously unpublished songs are the protagonists of the songs: Morire di Maggio, Se c’è un luogo and Avresti potuto essere, r written by Roberto Alajmo, the director Roberto Andò and by Francesco Giambrone, governor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, repectively.

The music makes use of the rich sound of the Ensable Ottava Nota di Palermo , while a complete orchestra - Roma Sinfonietta  - is used for the Viaggio Segreto soundtrack.  Both the orchestras are directed by Marco Betta.

 
The album cover was inspired by an opera by Velasco Vitali.

Biography of the Maestro Marco Betta:

Marco Betta was born in Enna in 1964. Thanks to Eliodoro Sollima he began studying composition and, under his guidance,  Betta  graduated from the Conservatory of Palermo.

In 1985, he composed Il palazzo incantato per orchestra da camera (The enchanted palace for the chamber orchestra), the first work in which he begins to outline the main elements of his way of making music: melodies, suspended on harmonies and chord structures that blend the music of the ancient mediterranean cultures with the classical traditions and music of our times.  The idea of music conditioned by ancient literature and architecture from Sicily and the Mediterranean is the staring point of his successive works. The result is a series of works for solo instruments and for chamber ensembles such as In ombra d’amore ballata per viola (1988), Cadentia sidera per pianoforte e orchestra d’archi (1989), Ballata per violino e pianoforte (1990) and Senti l’eco aria per orchestra (1990).

Among his most recent works we can remember: Bellini, ultime luci a one-act opera based on text by Dario Oliveri (1996), Averroè written by Daniele Martino (1999), Nevebianca by Giovanni Maniscalco Basile, Il fantasma nella cabina by Andrea Camilleri a two-act singspiel based on libretto by Rocco Mortelliti, the Sinfonia dei nuovi giocattoli (1999), the soundtrack of the movie Il Manoscritto del Principe directed by Roberto Andò and produced by Giuseppe Tornatore (2000), Magaria favola per voce recitante e orchestra based on text by Andrea Camilleri, Sette storie per lasciare il mondo (2006), work for music and movie  by Roberto Andò and soundtrack for the movie Viaggio segreto (2006) directed by Roberto Andò.

From 1988 to 1993, he was the Coordinator for the Documentation Centre for Contemporary Music .From 1995 to 2000 he was a member of the Musical Commission for the SIAE and from 1994 to 2002 he held the position of Artistic Director at the Teatro Massimo di Palerm. He teaches composition at the Conservatory of Palermo.