Marche Breaks

By Sean Lawler - Special to The Leader

The Italian trio was met with enthusiastic applause as they gathered for their final bow Wednesday night. Hands held high, the audience was clearly impressed by the skill and prowess displayed by the night's performers.

Soprano Stefania Donzelli and violinist Luca Marziali returned to Fredonia campus for what was surely a crowd-pleaser. Accompanied by equally masterful pianist Paolo Zannini, the troupe put on a fantastic display. Audience members said Donzelli was, "pristine," and, "words cannot describe," Marziali's violin sound.

Though Donzelli and Marziali both hail from the Marche region of Italy, just north of Rome, on stage they exude very different appearances. The first to perform was Marziali dressed head to toe in black. Violin in hand he silently joined Zannini and began to expressively serenade the audience. In contrast, Donzelli appeared in a bright blue gown and gave the audience an introduction to what she was about sing, excerpts from Giovanni Pergolesi's Olimpiade. Her singing was full of personality.

Donzelli's start as a singer is crisscrossing to say the least. She got her start with an American singer, a New Yorker to be exact, who had lived in Italy for many years. Donzelli said that her teacher had been trained by an Italian since she was fifteen during World War II. In turn Donzelli was taught to sing through this, "old Italian technique."

When Donzelli was seventeen she went to the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, up the coast from Marche and she, "never stopped." In 1990 she graduated with "highest honors" and since then has been on the international stage winning accolades such as the Monte di Treviso and the Pavarotti of Philadelphia.

Marziali as well went to the Conservatorio di Musica in Pesaro where he studied violin. He has won scholarships and competitions which have been essential to his success as a soloist and chamber musician. Marziali has worked with an extensive number of people including Andrea Bocelli and founded/leads the Orchestra da Camera delle Marche. Along with being an accomplished performer he also teaches at the Conservatorio di Musica Pergolesi.

Being on the international stage means travel. Donzelli has extensively traveled all over the world to perform from Japan to the U.S. and countless cities in Italy. The frequency in which she performs varies; she could have five to six concerts in a month, sometimes only one.

"It's hard to get away with two kids," she said, but she isn't the only one in the family who is musical. Her husband is an American French horn player from Miami. They have performed together on several occasions.

"Italian singers like to be set free," Donzelli said.

Donzelli, who has performed at many different venues, describes her preferences in varying locations. It is clear that she is a professional. She described performing in Germany as, "punctual and precise," and loves to have that professional quality. But at the same time she enjoys a less "strict" and more relaxed setting in which to express herself.

"It's not a matter of time," she said in relation to the punctuality and precision of the German stage. She always shows up on time to performances and rehearsals again citing professionalism as a key element of her career.

Classical music, however, is not the only style she listens to. Jazz and pop are just a couple of genres she likes, specifically naming artists such as Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Michael Jackson as a few of her favorites.

Her future projects include several concerts in Italy as well as an opera she will be recording in the near future. The trio will be moving on to do performances in Buffalo and later Washington D.C.

http://www.fredonialeader.com/reverb/high-praise-for-visiting-italian-musicians-1.1717204