Aldo Ferraresi

Aldo Ferraresi (May 14, 1902 - June 29, 1978) was a celebrated Italian violinist.

Ferraresi was born Ferrara, the son of Augusto Ferraresi, an artillery marshal and mandolin player, and Marcella Jesi. At the age of five he began his studies at the Frescobaldi Institute of Music in Ferrara with Federico Barera and Umberto Supino. When he was 12, he was admitted to the Parma Conservatory. His teacher there, Mario Corti, also accompanied him to Rome where he received a degree in violin from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia three years later. Upon suggestions from Jan Kubelik, he went to Eugène Ysaÿe, who considered him one of his best pupils.

He went on to perform in concert halls throughout Europe and the United States including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Festival Hall in London. In addition to his solo concert work, he was also first violin in the Quartet of San Remo and the Symphonic Orchestra of San Remo, as well as the concert master at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

Aldo Ferraresi died in San Remo on June 29, 1978. In May 2002, the 100th anniversary of his birth was marked by an exhibition and seminars in Ferrara and concerts in his honour in Ferrara at the Teatro Comunale.

Notable performances

• Genoa in 1950 for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Christopher Columbus, where he performed Paganini's Concerto in D major on the Guarnieri "Cannone" violin.
• San Remo in 1950, a concert in the presence of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, where, as an encore was demanded by the audience, he performed the Paganini Concerto in D major.
• In 1963, he performed the Aram Kachaturian concerto for violin and orchestra, conducted by Kachaturian himself. The concert was televised nationally by RAI (Italian state television)
• The Vatican in 1965 when he gave a concert in the Hall of Benediction in St. Peter's Basilica, in the presence of Pope Paul VI and his Papal Court, playing Jean Sibelius' Solemn Melodies Op. 77.

Recordings

• Aldo Ferraresi - The Great Italian Radio Recordings, CD box by RAI Trade, 2006, with Elgar, Mozart, Kachaturian, Walton, Paganini, Guarino, Shostakovich, and Ysaye violin concertos.

Sources

• Estense, "Aldo Ferraresi, il Gigli del violino", 17 November 2006.
• Hall, Raymond, "Riviera Chamber Music", New York Times, 13 January 1934.
• Kennedy, Michael, Portrait of Walton‎, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 169. ISBN 0-19-816705-9
• La Villa, Gianluca, Souvenir of Aldo Ferraresi, 2001
• La Villa, Gianluca, "Ricordo di Aldo Ferraresi-L'arte italiana del violino di un grande maestro del Novecento", "Ferrara-Voci di una città'', Dicembre 2001, rivista della Fondazione Cassa di risparmio di Ferrara, p. 39-43
• La Villa, Gianluca, Aldo Ferraresi: L'arte italiana del violino, 2002. (PDF)
• La Villa, Gianluca, "Ricordo di Aldo Ferraresi", Archi Magazine, May-June 2008, p. 30.
• Woolf, Jonathan, Review: Aldo Ferraresi, La storia discographica del violino Vol 5 (IDIS 6366), Music-Web International, February 2003.
• Woolf, Jonathan, Review: "Aldo Ferraresi, Il Gigli del violino: The Great Italian Radio Recordings, "Music-Web International", March 2007.

External links

• Souvenir of Aldo Ferraresi