Silence Stefania Cafaro

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Piano Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845:
• 1 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845: I. Moderato 12:33
• 2 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845: II. Andante, poco mosso 12:30
• 3 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento 07:32
• 4 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845: IV. Rondo. Allegro vivace 05:26
• Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959:
• 5 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959: I. Allegro 15:26
• 6 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959: II. Andantino 08:26
• 7 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento 05:41
• 8 Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959: IV. Rondo. Allegretto 12:07
• Total Runtime 01:19:41

Info for Silence

Italian pianist Stefania Cafaro, a student of Michele Campanella, draws us into the intimate world of Schubert's piano music with the Piano Sonata in A minor, D845 (1825), and the Piano Sonata in A major, D959 (1828).

Stefania Cafaro has a particular affinity with Schubert's music, which is especially precious to her. In calling this album Silence, she draws our attention to the sense of quiet solitude that inhabits these works; the significance of pauses within the music; and the contemplative, soul-baring nature of much of Schubert's piano music. After his own performance of the slow movement of the A minor Sonata, Schubert wrote that "under my hands the keys became singing voices...", and Cafaro echoes this description with her exquisitely lyrical playing.

This singing sonority also pervades the Sonata D959, which dates from the very end of Schubert's life. This is a work of infinite depth, as Robert Schumann wrote: "... as though there could be no ending, nor any embarrassment about what should come next, as the music ripples along songfully from page to page". Yet alongside these voice-like qualities are textures of symphonic grandeur and Beethovenian drama, especially in the extraordinary Andantino, in which Schubert unleashes an existential soliloquy worthy of Hamlet: introspective musings are juxtaposed with angry outbursts so vivid that we never quite forget them, even during the bright and defiant final movement.

In bringing together these two great Schubert sonatas, Stefania Cafaro offers a fresh and deeply-felt interpretation of some of the most demanding and emotive music in the repertoire.

Stefania Cafaro, piano

Stefania Cafaro
Born in Catania in 1972, Stefania Cafaro studied music at the "V. Bellini" Institute of her native city under the guidance of Agatella Catania. She took her diploma at the age of seventeen with the highest marks possible, honours, and a special mention of merit. In 1992 she was awarded the diploma of honour by the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. At the age of only sixteen she was awarded a prize at the "A. Casagrande" international competition of Terni. Since that time she has won numerous other national and international prizes.

Both as a soloist and as a member of the orchestra, she has played with important concert groups both in Italy and abroad such as the Associazione Scarlatti of Naples, Amici della Musica ed EAOSS of Palermo, the Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese, and the Concerti del Mattino of Bolzano. In 1994 she made two important debuts - at the prestigious Sale Verdi of the Conservatorio of Milan for the Societe dei Concerti and at the Auditorium of the RAI in Rome where she performed the second "Concerto for Pianoforte and Orchestra" by Chopin.

As second piano she took part in the presentation of the Portrait"Petit Messe Solemnelle" by Rossini conducted by Maestro Campanella which was put on first at the "Maggio Musicale Fiorentino" ("Musical May of Florence") and then in Pesaro, Modena, St. Petersburg, Rome (at the Accademia di S. Cecilia) and Naples (Teatro Bellini). With Maestro Campanella, with whom she is presently furthering her studies, and with the "Wiener Kammer Chore", she has performed the "Liebeslieder" and the "Neue Liebelider" by Brahms for the "Settimana Musicale Senese" ("Siena Musical Week") and the "Estate Musicale Sorrentina" ("Sorrento Musical Summer"). In May 1988 she took part in the "Settimana Internazionale di Musica da Camera di Napoli" ("International Week of Chamber Music in Naples"), playing with Pay, Meunier, Ancilloti, Nordio, Dindo and Ghedin.

Stafania Cafaro has made a large number of recordings for RAI (for television and radio) both as a soloist and as a member of an ensemble. At the present time she is working with Maestro Campanella on the preparation of a season dedicated to Brahms's "Variations". On compact disk she has recorded the music of Carl Maria von Weber ("Piano Works", 1995) and Carl Czerny ("50 Studi op. 740", 1996).

Booklet for Silence