It's a piece that exudes the confidence of a composer who knows exactly what he wants and how to achieve it.

Il pensiero che questa musica trasmette è una conquistata libertà da qualunque dogma avanguardistico, ma anche antiavanguardistico.

[This music conveys a conquered sense of freedom and overcomes both avant-garde and anti-avant-garde dogmatism]

La musica contemporanea funziona e piace quando sono chiari il pensiero, la tecnica e l'immaginazione. La prova? Gli occhi che si fermano di Francesco Antonioni, eseguito […] dall’orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia sotto la direzione di Antonio Pappano.

[Contemporary music is effective and pleasing when thought, technique and imagination are crystal-clear. The proof? Gli occhi che si fermano, by Francesco Antonioni, performed […] by the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, under Antonio Pappano]

The expression is tense and taut, with the only concession to colour and varied timbre being the viola, which is tuned up a tone to sound like a Greek or Balkan folk instrument in its dark keening. It comes as no surprise, given the delicately controlled sound and movement and the rigour of the writing, that Antonioni has been a pupil of George Benjamin. His mentor conducted a finely tuned and highly charged performance of the work.

Una sorta di consacrazione di Antonioni–compositore. Un po' come accade nella perfetta discesa sulla neve di un campione medaglia d’oro.


[A sort of consecration of Antonioni-as-composer. As it happens in the perfect downhill race of a gold medal champion]

I had a very talented fellow called Francesco Antonioni who helped me when I was writing.

Mit «Tre preludi diatonici» des Italieners Francesco Antonioni wagte die Pianistin sodann den Sprung in die Gegenwart. Die drei Stimmungsbilder des Henze-Schülers Antonioni verkörpern einen Typ von soft music, der problemlos in die Ohren geht, vor allem, wenn die melodischen Linien so klar aus dem flimmernden Beiwerk herausgehoben werden wie.

[With "Tre preludi diatonici" by the Italian composer Francesco Antonioni, the pianist dared a leap into the present. The three moody pieces of Henze's pupil Antonioni embody a type of soft music, which gets easily into the ears, especially when the melodic lines are clearly raised out of the shimmering background figures]