On February 20 at Florence’s Teatro Verdi, percussionist Simone Rubino and the Regional Orchestra of Tuscany, conducted by Daniele Rustioni, presented the world premiere of Carlo Boccadoro’s L’elettricità dei sogni (The Electricity of Dreams). The piece was commissioned by the Regional Orchestra of Tuscany, with support from SIAE – Classici di Oggi 2018-19.

Simone Rubino, the talented 27-year-old percussionist from Torino, was on Carlo Boccadoro’s mind when he composed L’elettricità dei sogni. Rubino was winner of the 2014 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, and in 2016 picked up the Crédit Suisse Young Artists Award at the Lucerne Festival. He has been featured as a soloist with some of the world’s leading orchestras and is a great fan of the new repertory. Rubino says that he’s “lucky to be able to work with composers because we can change percussion technique, a process that’s constantly evolving. It’s a question of finding the right language to express the musical idea or colors that a composer wants to convey.”  

Performances of L’elettricità dei sogni were also held in Cremona (February 21, Teatro Ponchielli) and Mantua (February 22, Teatro Sociale).


Here are excerpts from a pair of reviews: 

[…] Simone Rubino has become a phenomenon. For a while now, people in the know have been equating him with some sort of elf as he scampers among vibraphones, drums and bells. […] 23-minute L’elettricità dei sogni is divided into three movements, […] all blazing fast, containing extremely complex and difficult rhythmic subdivisions […] that allow Rubino to move from one of the three percussion kits on the forestage in front of the orchestra to another […] Enthusiastic applause […].
(Roberto Codazzi, in La Provincia, Quotidiano di Cremona – February 23, 2020)



[...] Amid polyrhythmic weaves, super-fast figurations and sudden breaks, the musical language pulsating beneath Rubino’s dizzying moves has become a key factor in his compositions, reflected decisively in the character and development of his writing for orchestras. It is with absolute rhythmic precision and exceptional mastery of skills that Simone Rubino has carved out a myriad of tonal effects and nuances on a wide range of instruments, including the vibraphone, drums, cymbals, pieces of wood, glockenspiel, bass drums. All set up in three different installations. The crowd went wild, thunderous applause for a stunning musical performance that transcends technical mastery […].
(Guido Maria Pavesi, in La voce di Mantova – February 25, 2020) 

Simone Rubino’s repertory also includes another Carlo Boccadoro piece, Red Harvest, for cello and vibraphone, which since April 2019 he has been performing on tour with Enrico Dindo.

Foto: @ Marco Borrelli - Fondazione ORT