F.Ponzi su pianoforte J.Heitzmann (Vienna, ca. 1865)
J.S.Bach Preludio e fuga in do# min. BWV 873
F.Ponzi su pianoforte J.Heitzmann (Vienna, ca. 1865)
Flavio Ponzi has performed long and solitary research into Romantic pianos, organically highlighting the structural link between the tonal characters of such pianos and the Romantic musical aesthetic.
He completed his training in Bologna, Rome, and Salzburg under the guidance of Ireneo Fuser (Organ and organ composition), Firmino Sifonia (Composition and Orchestra Direction) and Renzo Silvestri (Piano). Since 1986 he has been devoted to interpretative research in the Romantic pianos reading, and the organological research into the 19th century piano types and the problems concerning restoration. In this field he has analysed some particular aspects of the history of the piano, up to the creation of the Steinway pianos type, the prototype of the modern piano.
The relationship between tone, structure of the composition and the performance practice has been the theme of the research that he has performed into dealing with the tonal restoration of the 19th century pianos in an innovative way. Within the scope of such research, mostly coming to an end in 1999, he has resolved some physical and acoustic dilemmas linked to the methods with which the obsolescence of pianos manifests itself, identifying some central aspects in the restoration of the tone and providing an idiosyncratic critical contribution for improving the understanding of the Romantic musical aesthetic.
He has presented the results of his theoretical and quantitative analysis, concerning the tonal restoration and the mechanical efficiency of the instruments at international congresses on organology and musical acoustics. According to Ponzi, the research into the tonal types that have disappeared offers some keys to reading the piano music of the 19th century, above all inherent to the interpretation of the dynamic pianos, the use of ‘stolen’ time and the pedal use.
He has given concerts on historical pianos, of which he has overseen the restoration for public institutions, or belonging to his collection, at musical and chamber associations; seminars and conferences at conservatories and research institutes.
At the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in February 2000 he performed with Massimiliano Génot the Petite Messe Solennelle by Gioachino Rossini, in the first modern version with original Pleyel pianos: the first belonged to Rossini,
the second he chose in 1843, both submitted by Flavio Ponzi to a complex restoration.
With Massimiliano Genot he then formed the piano duo Les Préludes.
A summary of F.Ponzi's research is in: Atanasio Cecchini Restoration experiences of romantic pianos for the piano interpretation, Piano Dream, Mosé edition, Schio 2005, reissue 2007, pp. 180-206.This research is illustrated internationally by the famous scholar Voichita Bucur, who mentioned it in her fundamental volume Handbook of Materials for string Musical Instruments, Springer International Publishing, 2016, pp. 721-732.
An in-depth study on Pleyel typology and Rossini's pianos is in F.Ponzi, Rossini und seine bevorzugten Pleyel-Klaviere, "La Gazzetta. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Rossini Gesellschaft 2017" Leipziger Universitatsverlag 2017, pp.4-51.
F.Ponzi has recorded an CD with music by J. Brahms, on an 1868 Steinway piano and a CD with music by Rossini, played on a Pleyel owned by Rossini himself.
