Biography
Award winning with the Chitarra d'Oro Prize for the Best Solo Guitar CD Publication of 2022 by the Scientific Committee of the Convegno Internazionale di Chitarra Classica in Milan for his last CD “Carulli rediscovered” (Dynamic, 2022), Marcello Fantoni has developed his knowledge of guitar's repertoire rediscovering many works for and with guitar.
His collaboration and frindships with the musicologist Danilo Prefumo has led him, over the years, to publish several CDs with a relevant musicological efforts and in world premiere recording. He has indeed released many recordings including: Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) "43 Ghiribizzi for Guitar" (Stradivarius, July 2020), "Luigi Legnani Guitar's Works" (Naxos, 2018), Federico Moretti (1769 -1839) "Works for Guitar" (Dynamic 2018), Luigi Rinaldo Legnani (1790-1877): "Luigi Legnani: Rossini Variations" (Naxos, 2017) and “Carulli rediscovered” (Dynamic, 2022). Within this CD, playing on a marvelous guitar built by René Lacoté in 1820, the same Luthier who built guitar for Carulli In person, Fantoni gathered together many undiscovered music for solo guitar by the Neapolitan guitarist and composer Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841). Many of those are obiouvsly in premiere recording. This recording has been awared with the Chitarra d'Oro Prize for the Best Solo Guitar CD Publication of 2022 in the Convegno Internazionale di Chitarra Classica in Milan for the absolute philological relevance of this work.
His CD “Complete works for Clarinet, Flute and Guitar” by the Austrian composer Ferdinand Rebay (1880-1953), released by Brilliant Classic in 2021, represents another first world premiere recording of music for this uncommon trio.
Previously, In 2014, thanks to the suggestions of the composer Tomás Marco, he could rediscover the wide corpus of music for solo guitar and chamber music with guitar by the Sevillian composer Manuel Castillo (1930- 2005). In 2015, a selected part of these music has been gathered in the "world premiere recording" Castillo Guitar Music" by Naxos, getting since then great relevance and considerable importance in the guitar repertoire, bringing together for the first time, the most important Castillo's guitar works.
In 2011 he focused his research and his study to Tomás Marco’s music, releasing for Dynamic label, two CDs: "Works For Guitar" (2012) and "Chamber Works For Guitar" (2013), both entirely dedicated to his music for solo guitar and for ensemble with guitar. About the first CD Tomas Marco himself wrote: "... I think it's a wonderful job and I think for that reason it will be a reference recording for the future ...". "Chamber Works For Guitar" contains the world premiere recordings of several Tomas Marco's chamber works. It has been broadcasted on live Radio Rai 3, and on RTVE (Radiotelevisión Española).This Spanish radio station dedicated wide space to the presentation of this record throughout the radio program "Musica viva". A very long interview with the composer has been alternated with hearing of many extracts from the CD. Marco dedicated to Marcello Fantoni two chamber works with guitar: Trio Concertante n. 5 "Cartografias of Melodrama", for flute, viola and guitar, and "Para un Ritual del Olvido" for clarinet and guitar.
He has collaborated with Quartetto Archimia, with the violinist Piercarlo Sacco, with the flutists Daniela Pisano, Paola Dusio, Davide Gandino, with the Esteso Trio (Carlo Sandrini, Clarinet and Alessandra Alfonsi, Flute) as well as with the Grande Orchestra Sinfonica "Giuseppe Verdi" recording some works by Bruno Maderna (CD Stradivarius "Liriche su Verlaine"). Moreover, he also recorded two contemporary works by composer Davide Gualtieri for IRTEM-Document.
Many are the radio passages on both national and foreign broadcasters of his recordings (Radio Rai 3 Primo Movimento, RTVE Radiotelevisión Española "Musica viva", MDR KULTUR).
He studied at the Conservatory "G. Verdi" of Milan where, in 1996, he graduated in classical guitar with distinction and cum laude in the performing exam. In the same institution he studied, for a brief time, composition with Danilo Lorenzini and Davide Anzaghi. He continued his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he was admitted in 1996 with Eliot Fisk. In 2002 he obtains the Master of Science Degree in Secondary Musical Education (SISS) at the Faculty of Musicology of Cremona, deepening there musical analysis, exegesis of musical texts and harmony with Daniele Sabaino and Pietro Mangani.
In 2007 he achieved the Master Degree with the highest marks Cum Laude in "Discipline Musicali - Chitarra" at the Conservatory "L. Cherubini" of Florence studying with Paolo Paolini and attending also the annual masterclasses of Eduardo Fernandez (2005), Timo Koronen (2005), Leo Brouwer (2006) and Pavel Steidel (2006). He also attended Leo Brouwer's masterclasses in Cordoba and in Siena, at the Accademia Chigiana, with Oscar Ghiglia, winning the Scholarship and the Diploma of Merit. The ARAM Association in Rome pointed him out as an emerging talent inviting him to play at the State Discotheque of Rome.
He composed "Perpetuum (homage to Egberto Gismonti)" for solo classical guitar, and "Music for Flute And Guitar of Marcello Fantoni" (with CD recording of the same pieces performed together with the flutist Daniela Pisano) published by Sinfonica.
He edited and revised the critical editions of two pieces by Luigi Moretti "Corrente and Overture" and "Variazioni per la Chitarra", publishing them respectively for Casa Musicale Eco and Guitar Tree Edition.
He has gained thirty years of experience in the didatic of classical guitar since ever teaching with great passion in the Secondary School of Music and, since 2017 to 2021, in the basic courses at the Conservatory "Giacomo Puccini" of Gallarate (VA).
He is currently teaching at the Rovigo Conservatory of Music.
"A worthy cultural ambassador of the splendid Italian people for which I have always felt a deep love and respect"
(Eliot Fisk)
