Piatti, Alfredo (Carlo)
Piatti, Alfredo (Carlo)
Piatti, Alfredo (Carlo), renowned Italian cellist and teacher; b. Borgo Canale, near Bergamo, Jan. 8,1822; d. Crocetto di Mozzo, July 18, 1901. He received his primary musical education from his father, the violinist Antonio Piatti, and his great uncle, the cellist Gaetano Zenetti, whom he succeeded as cellist in the local theater orch. when he was only 8; continued his studies with Merighi at the Milan Cons. (1832–37), playing his own concerto at a public Cons, concert (Sept. 21, 1837). He made his first tour of Europe in 1838; perf. with Liszt in Munich in 1843, making his Paris debut in 1844. On May 31 of that year he appeared in London for the first time, and soon established a remarkable reputation as a master of his instrument; also taught privately and at the Royal Academy of Music. He owned an outstanding Stradivari cello of 1720, which is now known as “The Piatti.” He publ, a cello method (London, 1878), and also composed 2 cello concertos (1874, 1877), a Concertino for Cello and Orch. (1863), 6 sonatas for Cello and Piano, 12 caprices for Cello, and various arrangements of 18th-century music.
Bibliography
M. Latham, A. P (London, 1901); A. Lodetti Bar-zanò, II musicista CA. P: Un violoncellista nell’Europa dell’800 (Bergamo, 1996).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire