[One of] two of the most important annual American classical guitar events
(Classical Guitar Magazine)
From: clevelandclassical.com - May 27, 2014
Italian Guitarists Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli formed SoloDuo ten
years ago. Their performances have received world-wide acclaim from New
York’s Carnegie Hall to Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall, from Kiev’s Hall
of Columns to Vienna’s Konzerthaus.
On Saturday, May 31 at 8:00 pm in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s
Mixon Hall, SoloDuo will make a return visit to the Cleveland
International Classical Guitar Festival with a program titled
“Metamorphoses.” The performance includes the music of Albéniz,
Beethoven, Debussy, Granados, Jolivet, and Rodrigo. On Sunday, June 1,
SoloDuo will present a master class from 11:30 am until 2:30 pm in CIM’s
Studio 113. The event is free and open to the public.
Although the Duo’s touring schedule did not allow for a telephone
conversation, Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli graciously agreed to
answer questions by e-mail
Carlyn Kessler: How did the two of you meet?
SoloDuo: We met about fifteen years ago in San Antonio,
Texas, while we were both on tour as soloists. We literally bumped into
each other by chance. We both thought we could get along pretty well,
and we met for lunch a few weeks later when we got back to Europe. That
was the beginning of everything. In that
same year we worked together on a summer festival project, but the idea
of playing together was still very remote. It would take four more years
before we decided to form the Duo. Somehow a musical ensemble, such as a
duo, is like a marriage: discussing different ideas, arranging your
schedule, rehearsing, traveling, or simply ordering a meal…you really need to know the other one well before you can even think of spending all that time with him.
CK: You both have distinguished solo careers. What inspired you to perform together?
SD: I think the most simple but most true answer is that no
distinguished solo career will ever give you the pleasure and joy of
making music with somebody else.
CK: You reside in different countries, although Lorenzo teaches
in Switzerland, where Matteo lives. What is your rehearsal process, and
how frequently are you in the same place?
SD: Although we have never lived in the same city — and now
we even live in two different countries — we have always tried to keep
our rehearsal schedule as regular as possible. We usually meet in the
heart of the Alps, halfway between Milan and Geneva, our two cities.
This means a lot of traveling and a little more planning work when we
get together to rehearse (usually every other week), but it also means
that we have an extra reason to be prepared for the next rehearsal. That
extra effort that you have to make to get together really pushes you to
work harder in preparation for the rehearsal, and teaches you how to
make the most out of the (little) time that you have.
CK: How much time do you devote to your duo as opposed to your solo careers and other endeavors?
SD: The duo is the real core of our artistic careers: we
devote most of our time to it and most of our energies. Solo playing —
and individual practicing — is also important, especially when it
becomes a source of inspiration, an indispensable technical training and
an open window on the rest of the guitar repertoire. Chamber music and
collaborations with other musiciansd are also a major part of our
musical life. We have several projects going on at the moment, including
a program with a narrator and our early music consort with theorbo,
baroque guitars, archlute and voice, with which we have released a
couple of CDs devoted to Italian music from the 17th century.
CK: Have you commissioned pieces for your duo?
SD: We’ve worked with several composers in the past years,
but lately other programs and projects took over and we’ve been a bit
lazy on that front. Promoting new music, though, should always be on the
top of a musician’s list of priorities.
CK: In the Cleveland recital program, you will be performing an
interestingly varied range of repertoire. How did you choose this
program? Does it have a theme?
SD: The Cleveland recital is called “Metamorphoses,” and it
is based on the theme of “transformation.” Most of the pieces that we
will perform are arrangements of music originally written for other
instruments. Through the transcription, these masterworks undergo a
complete transformation in terms of colors, dynamic range, and
phrasing. Each work — such as Debussy’s Clair de Lune, or Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” — glitters with new lights in their “new lives” on the 12 strings.
CK: What would you like the audience to take away from this program?
SD: As a guitar duo, our mission would be accomplished if
the audience stepped out of the concert hall thinking, “Did we just hear
two guitars? It rather sounded like one instrument.”
CK: When was the last time you performed in Cleveland?
SD: We played in Cleveland a couple of years ago, in the
same venue, for the Cleveland International Guitar Festival. The
organization of the event is absolutely perfect. Moreover, we consider
Mixon Hall at CIM one of the best concert halls in the world, and
certainly the ideal stage for the guitar. All the nuances that you want
to do can be heard without effort.
Learn more about SoloDuo.