Duo Antongirolami-Selva
“First of all, it’s clear that Antongirolami and Selva both play like gods. Their performance is neat, sharp and smooth. [...]”. This is the review, written by Mario Gamba, of a concert held by the Antongirolami-Selva duo at Area Sismica (Forlì, Italy), a prestigious venue that hosts important personalities - from Fred Frith to the Arditti Quartet - and where all experimental musicians are welcome.
The Antongirolami-Selva saxophone duo was founded in 2013 on the occasion of a concert dedicated to the modern and contemporary repertoire for their ensemble.
Their keen interest in contemporary music, in all its forms - from the avant-garde of the 50s in the twentieth century to the most recent contaminations, with electroacoustic devices, live electronics, improvisation - together with a continuous desire to innovate the repertoire, lead the duo to collaborate with several composers, both to request new works and to publish authorized transcriptions of pre-existing scores. These include Sylvano Bussotti's Ballerina Gialla e Pettirosso, adapted by Selva for saxophones and live electronics, and Louis Andriessen's Lacrimosa (originally for two bassons), adapted by Antongirolami for two alto saxophones and published by Donemus.
Their arrangements also include works for solo saxophone and other saxophone ensembles, like Solo-Kunst by Luis de Pablo, arranged by Selva for solo saxophone and published – with the authorization of the composer – by Suvini Zerboni, and three compositions by Arvo Pärt - My heart's in the Highlands, Psalom, Magnificat -, arranged for saxophone quartet by Antongirolami, recorded in the compact disc Anima (col legno, 2017), that will also be published soon by Universal Edition.
There are also many works written and dedicated to the Antongirolami-Selva duo: just to mention the most recent ones, Crai by James Erber (Composers Edition) for two soprano saxophones, Frammenti di divenire by Sam Hayden for soprano and baritone saxophones (Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin), Interlude by Reinhard Febel (Ricordi, Berlin) for soprano and tenor saxophones, Antidinamica by Roberto Doati for two saxophones and live electronics, Horizon and Siren by Yuval Avital, a full-length piece which combines the two saxophones (alto and baritone) with live electronics, voice and video.
The repertoire of the duo Antongirolami-Selva combines classic works by Charles Koechlin, Paul Hindemith, Paul Arma, with their own transcrptions of pieces by Bruno Maderna, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Louis Andriessen, Isang Yun, John Cage, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, James Tenney, and contemporary original works by Georges Aperghis, Christian Lauba, Anthony Braxton, Christopher Fox, Tigran Mansurian, Michael Edwards, Ondřej Adámek, Dimitri Nicolau, some of them dedicated to the duo by Sylvano Bussotti, James Erber, Lamberto Lugli, Sam Hayden, Cristian Gentilini, Yuval Avital, Roberto Doati, Reinhard Febel.
