Claudio Ambrosini was born in Venice (April 9, 1948). He graduated in Composition at Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of his town. Important to his development were his meetings with Bruno Maderna and Luigi Nono.
He composed vocal, instrumental, electronic, operas, radio, stage and orchestral works, marked by his personal instrumental and stylistic research. He received several awards and took part in numerous international festivals such as the Contemporary Music Festival of the Venice Biennale the Strasbourg, Bruxelles, Helsinki, Huddersfield, Lyon, Stockolm, Vancouver, Montreal, Avignon, Stanford, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sidney, Ludwigsburg, Viitasaari festivals and many more. He also received commissions from RAI, the Venice Biennale, the WDR of Koln, the Government of France, the Scarlatti Orchestra of Naples, the Festival of Nations, Milano Musica, Grame.
His magical music was directed among others by Riccardo Muti, Diego Masson, Stefan Anton Reck, Ed Spanjaard, John Störgards, Pierre-André Valade, Andrea Molino, Roberto Abbado, Marco Angius, in the IRCAM programs of Paris, of the Scala Theater in Milan, of the Gulbenkian Foundations in Lisbon and the Gaudeamus Foundation in Amsterdam, of the Mozarteum of Salzburg, of the Akademie der Künste of Berlin; of the Münchener Philharmoniker, of "Perspectives du XX siècle" of Radio France, of the Autunno Musicale of Warsaw, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino etc.
He actively started to work with computer music in 1976 at the Centro di Sonologia Computazionale of the University of Padua.
He has directed the Ex-novo Ensemble since 1979, and the CIRS (Centro Internazionale per la Ricerca Strumentale) since 1983, which he both founded in Venice.
In 1985 he was the first non-French musician to win the Prix de Rome and stay at Villa Medici, The French Academy in Rome. In 1985 he was chosen by an international commission to represent Italy during the celebrations for the European Year for Music and in 1986 at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers.
In 2007 he won the Leone d’Oro for Music of the Venice Biennale.
His music has been published by Casa Ricordi since 2006.
His most recent works include:
Tancredi appresso il Combattimento (2017), a dramatic madrigal for soprano, tenor, baritone, theorbo, harpsichord, string quintet and percussion, commissioned by the InCanto and the Reate opera festivals (Italy) at the celebration of Claudio Monteverdi’s 450th birthday;
Aria della Battaglia (2018) for orchestra, commission of Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto;
Phonurgia (2015) for orchestra, commission of Kunstuniversität Graz;
Morte di Caravaggio (2015) for bassoon and orchestra, which was premiered by Orchestra della Toscana;
Fonofania (2013) for children’s chorus and orchestra, commissioned by Venice Biennale and premiered by Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna;
La Dona Danada (2010) work for ensemble which was premiered by Sharoun Ensemble Berlin in Milan;
Il killer di parole (The killer of words), a “playdrama” in two acts on a subject by Daniel Pennac and Claudio Ambrosini, premiered at the Teatro La Fenice, the commissioner, in December 2010 (the opera received the Franco Abbiati Critics’ Prize for Best New Work in 2010);
Plurimo (per Emilio Vedova) (2007) concerto for two pianos and orchestra, commission from the Venice Biennale which won the Leone d’Oro;
Tocar (2006), concerto for piano and orchestra, commission from the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale of RAI.
Before 2005, he wrote:
BIG BANG CIRCUS (2001), opera commissioned by the Venice Biennale and UNESCO;
Il canto della pelle (SEX Unlimited)* (2005), commissioned by the Government of France and
Il giudizio universale (1996), commissioned by the Festival of Nations. The
Passione secondo Marco (1999-2000), commissioned by the Filarmonica Romana Academy and RAITre for the Jubilee;
Canzon XIII,
Canzon I,
Sonata XIX (1998) (Giovanni Gabrieli), performed at the Scala and directed by Riccardo Muti;
Pandora librante (1997), symphonic ballet in 2 acts for soprano, mezzo-soprano and orchestra, based on the work by Italo Calvino; Frammenti d’acque (1996), musical dramaturgy in seven stations commissioned in the memory of the floods of Venice and Florence of 1966;
Orfeo, l’ennesimo (1984), opera commissioned from Aterforum;
Le cahier perdu de Casanova (1998), opera-ballet, both on separate libretto;
Proverbs of hell (1990-1991), cantata for piano, percussion, chorus and large orchestra, commissioned from RAI;
Susanna (1995/96), oratorio for small chorus and mixed instruments, commissioned from the Government of France.
*In 2008 the opera won the “Music Theatre Now” prize, the international competition held for the first time last year by the International Music Theatre Institute (ITI) in Berlin. The prize is assigned for original productions in the field of contemporary opera. The libretto of
Il canto della pelle (SEX Unlimited) had already been awarded a prize by the Fondation Beaumarchais in 2005.
Photo: Neno Brusegan