Laura Marzadori, the acclaimed first violinist concertmaster from Milan’s renowned Teatro alla Scala, is making her highly anticipated Australian debut with the Vivaldi Gala Night: Journey to Italy. Beginning at Perth’s Winthrop Hall on September 27, the concert will kick off her Australian tour, with additional performances in Brisbane and Sydney. Known for her extraordinary talent and collaborations with Grammy-winning conductors such as Antonio Pappano and Daniel Barenboim, Marzadori seamlessly blends classical music with mainstream culture. Magazine 6000 had the opportunity to ask Laura a few questions ahead of the tour, where she reflected on the impact of Vivaldi’s music on her as a musician and shared her experiences performing around the world.
How does it feel to be on your first Australian tour? What has the journey been like to reach this point?
It’s an immense emotion for me to be able to perform in Australia for the first time. It’s a place I’ve long wanted to visit, and it will be a truly unique experience to bring my Vivaldi to three important cities like Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney.
You’ve curated a varied program for the Gala Night. Can you tell us about these pieces and what they mean to you? Why did you choose them?
Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ is a piece to which I am particularly attached. I studied ‘Spring’ for the first time when I was a child with my teacher Fiorenza Rosi, and I remember how diligently I faced the technical and musical challenges the piece presented to me. From that moment, these compositions have never left me. I find ‘The Four Seasons’ to be a repertoire that offers great interpretative freedom, and that’s why each performance is never the same as the last. There’s always a vast space for experimenting with new creativity each time!
Vivaldi is one of your favourite composers. What is it about his music that resonates with and inspires you?
Vivaldi’s music has always inspired me. Firstly, because of what I mentioned earlier: it offers great interpretative freedom, but also because his music is filled with strong emotional contrasts, providing deep sensations both for the musician and the audience. The Four Seasons’ in particular are pieces that perfectly describe nature in its most varied forms, from the birds’ singing to a violent storm, and this never tires the listener.
You’ve performed in a wide variety of spaces and with an array of great people. How do you adapt to these different environments? Do you find that the energy of each performance changes based on where and who you are performing to?
Clearly, every performance evokes completely different emotions in me, and various factors influence this. Certainly, the venue in which I perform plays a role (I love many types of venues, from historical Italian theatres to the modern halls I’ve seen in Germany, as well as in Korea and China, for example). The acoustics are another element that affects my state of mind when I perform, because obviously, good acoustics make me feel more at ease and in perfect connection with the sound of my instrument. Lastly, but no less important, is the audience, which varies depending on the country. I loved, for example, the South American audience when I toured in Argentina and Uruguay, and the Indian audience moved me greatly as well. I also have wonderful memories of the audiences in major German concert halls, for instance. So, I am very curious to get to know the Australian audience!
Australia is a long way from Italy. What else do you plan on doing or seeing while you’re on tour?
To perform in an iconic venue like the Sydney Opera House and to also have the opportunity to explore other parts of Australia like Perth and Brisbane while on this tour is very exciting. Australia has long been on my list of places to visit and I’m looking forward to exploring and connecting with people through my music and to celebrating the great works of Vivaldi.
Laura Marzadori is performing Vivaldi Gala Night: Journey to Italy for one night only in Perth on September 27, at Winthrop Hall.