About
Cesare Picco
One of the world’s best-known Italian pianists of his generation, Cesare Picco is a piano improviser, composer and writer, as comfortable among the sounds of a baroque orchestra as he is among electronic beats. He is a Yamaha Artist and a Decca Artist.
His music reflects an array of influences ranging from classical composers to contemporary artists, highlighting a deep appreciation for melodic narratives and atmospheric storytelling: a profound blend of classical traditions with modern electronic elements, creating a unique, emotionally resonant style that speaks to the spiritual and introspective aspects of life.
Cesare is the inventor of Blind Date — Concert in the Dark (2009), an experimental concert — unique in the world — in which both artist and audience are immersed in real darkness.
Taking his music around the world since 1986, he has written for orchestras such as the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Chamber Soloists and I Virtuosi Italiani, and created special projects related to the world of art for the Whitney Museum in New York, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and Hangar Bicocca in Milan.
He has performed in theatres such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Auditorium in Rome, the Old Parliament in Singapore, the Hanoi Opera House, Al Maidan Centre in Kuwait City, the Tagore Centre in Kolkata, the Baghdad National Theatre and the MACM Auditorium in Bangkok, and at festivals such as Delhi Jazz Festival, Tokyo Jazz Festival, Abu Dhabi Festival, Mantra Festival Madrid and Umbria Jazz.
The Last Gate (2021) and Sky Tales (2023) are his latest albums, released on Decca Records.
I am a pianist sitting on the West with my hands in the Eastlooking at the North Star smelling the scents of the South
- On stage
- since 1986
- Artist
- Yamaha · Decca
- Created
- Blind Date — Concert in the Dark (2009)
Gallery
01/08
What critics write
“Picco è un improvvisatore puro, è soltanto quello che suona e come lo suona. Un concerto di Picco vale sempre un viaggio anche da lontano.”“An original beautiful touch of classic and the improvisation of jazz style music starts the evening. As light returns some audience were moving their bodies to the rhythm and some covering their eyelids to wipe away their tears.”“Picco plays for a mesmerising 45 minutes, unleashing gorgeous piece upon piece — the last time this writer saw such a quiet and still audience was when Nobel Prize winning author J. M. Coetzee had read at Jaipur Literature Festival earlier this year.”“From subtle and soft tones to powerful fortissimo chords, it was a display of magical virtuosity. You could close your eyes and be carried away by the cascading tides of evocative notes.”“Cesare Picco dazzled the audience in the capital. The concert attendees witnessed Picco’s remarkable technique of playing live improvisations that elevated the art of experimental piano renditions.”“The audience is impulsively and emotionally drawn into the compositions by the pianist’s physical intensity, an intensity that sometimes made me close my eyes and be carried away on an evocative tide of notes.”“La sua natura è innestare, sperimentare ed esplorare nuovi territori attraverso la tastiera, che sia un pianoforte a coda o un clavicordo. Incontro con un artista che ama cambiare rotta.”“In the dark, Picco discloses music’s profoundness.”“When music evokes emotions in complete darkness.”
