From 19 October to 30 November 2025, the cello will be the protagonist in Bergamo of the 19th edition of the AFestival Violoncellistico Internazionale Alfredo Piatti, which will take place in three location, all located in the old part of the city of Bergamo (Città Alta): Sala Piatti (via S. Salvatore, 6), Biblioteca Civica A. Mai (Piazza Vecchia, 15) and Teatro Sant’Andrea (via Porta Dipinta, 37).
The Festival Violoncellistico Internazionale Alfredo Piatti, founded in Bergamo in 2006 as the first Italian festival entirely dedicated to the cello, has chosen since its first year to entrust great cellists, such as Antonio Meneses, Giovanni Sollima, David Geringas, Eric-Maria Couturier, Wen-Sinn Yang, Frans Helmerson, Giovanni Gnocchi, Umberto Clerici, and Miriam Prandi, as well as very promising young performers, with the task of giving voice to Alfredo Piatti’s compositions, placing them in the context of cello compositions of every era and genre.
In fact, by Alfredo Piatti’s own wish, his compositions, collected in the invaluable Fondo Piatti-Lochis, were donated to the city of Bergamo and are now kept in the Biblioteca Musicale Gaetano Donizetti.
Finally, the Sala Piatti, a wonderful concert hall with perfect acoustics and the main location for the Festival’s concerts, is dedicated to Alfredo Piatti.
All six events of the 2025 Festival will be held, as usual, on Sunday afternoons, and admission will be free until seats are filled. This is because the Piatti Association strongly believes in a culture of community listening, accessible to all audiences, from the very young to the elderly.
Informations: www.alfredopiatti.it – infoalfredopiatti@gmail.com
Artistic Direction: Andrea e Ljuba Bergamelli
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Sunday, October 19 – 4:30 PM – Angelo Mai Civic Library
Luciano Berio & Cathy Berberian
A lecture by Angela Ida De Benedictis (Paul Sacher Foundation, Luciano Berio Study Center) with musical contributions by Claudio Pasceri, cello, and Ljuba Bergamelli, voice. A special event marking the centenary of the birth of two giants of contemporary music, focusing on Sequenza XIV for cello and Sequenza III for voice.
Sunday, October 26 – 4:30 PM – Piatti Hall
Multiversum – Anteprima
The Cello Festival preview features a very young Sicilian cellist: Silvia Gira, who presents a program spanning multiple soundscapes, from acoustic to electronic, with music by Zahra, Piatti, Weinberg, Prati, Bartolomey, and Crumb. The concert is in collaboration with MMT Creative Lab and is supported by the FNSV.
Sunday, November 2nd – 4:30 PM – Piatti Hall
Timeless Dialogues
The young Belgian cellist Liav Kerbel offers a timeless dialogue between eras and styles with Bach, Penderecki, Piatti, Fujikura, and Britten. A journey that demonstrates how the cello can build bridges between the Baroque tradition and the 21st-century avant-garde.
Sunday, November 9 – 4:30 PM – Sant’Andrea Theater
Suite Zero
An interdisciplinary show combining dance and music with Simona Bertozzi and Claudio Pasceri. A journey through Haydn, Fedele, Cheung Hui, Bach, Dadone, Hosokawa, and Mahler, where the dancing body dialogues with the cello strings in a performance that explores the essence of movement and sound.
Sunday, November 16 – 4:30 PM – Piatti Hall
Ricordando Antonio Meneses
Ettore Pagano (2025 Abbaiti Prize winner) on cello and Massimo Spada on piano pay tribute to the great maestro who passed away, with a program that includes Schnittke, Martinů, Piatti, and Rachmaninoff. This concert celebrates the memory of one of the most important cellists of our time, honorary president of the Piatti Association and a frequent guest of the Festival.
Sunday, November 23 – 4:30 PM – Piatti Hall
A Cello at the Theater – Between Opera and Ballet
Alessio Pianelli, a renowned cellist with a solid concert career, and pianist Eugenio Catone explore the relationship between the cello and opera with works by Beethoven, Servais, Stravinsky, Piatti, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco. This program reveals how the cello can sing the operatic themes that have conquered the stages of European opera and ballet.
Sunday, November 30 – 4:30 PM – Piatti Hall
Orient / Occident
Michele Marco Rossi, a cellist with a vast musical culture and a versatile approach to contemporary repertoire, closes the festival with a program exploring the intersection of diverse musical cultures: Dall’Abaco, Hosokawa, Gabrielli, Marino, Hindemith, Aperghis, Supriani, Galli, Piatti, and Xenakis. A finale that celebrates the cello’s universal ability to unite seemingly distant traditions and languages.
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