Javier Comesaña, Violin
Alessandra Doninelli, Cello
Riccardo Gagliardi, Piano
OUR STORY
Named after the legendary pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who serves as an inspiration for the three musicians; a contemplative and refined personality capable of lyricism and rigor, power and delicacy.
Known for their critically-acclaimed performances, critic Mario Felix Vogt (from Der Tagesspiegel) described Trio Michelangeli as “extraordinary” with “a long future ahead of them.”
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Founded in Munich in March 2022, the trio quickly gained international acclaim when it won the Third Prize at the coveted 11th Osaka Chamber Music International Competition and the First Prize at the 2022 Rospigliosi Chamber Music Competition and. Currently, the trio is an ensemble-in-residence at the Reina Sofia in Madrid, working closely with Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet).
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Its current members, Javier Comesaña (violin), Alessandra Doninelli (cello) and Riccardo Gagliardi (piano) come from diverse backgrounds, but quickly discovered their love of playing together and commitment to the piano trio repertoire. While embarking separately on their own individual careers, the members of the trio place chamber music at the heart of their careers, committing passionately to the highest standard of music-making together.
Javier Comesaña, Violin
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Defined by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung as "an intelligent and open minded musician, capable to find new ways of music making", Javier Comesaña is the winner of the 6th International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists, as well as holder of the Prinz von Hessen-Preis, given by the Kronberg Academy in June 2021, and the title of Laureate of the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition.
His former teachers are Yuri Managadze and Sergey Teslya. He completed his studies with Marco Rizzi at the Reina Sofia School of Music (Madrid), and lately with Antje Weithaas at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler (Berlin). During his time in Madrid, he was awarded twice (in 2019 and 2021), by Her Majesty the Queen Sofia, as the most outstanding student of his chair. He received as well this distinction in 2021 in the chamber music field, beside his piano quintet, due to their interpretation of
Schubert's Trout Quintet.
He has been invited by many halls, festivals and prestigious institutions, amongst others the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, the Spannungen in Heimbach, the Unione Musicale di Torino, the Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti di Roma, the Associazione Scarlatti di Napoli, the Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid and the Festival de Música Española de Cádiz.
As a soloist, he has already made his debut with eminent conductors, like Pablo González, Vasily Petrenko, Andrew Manze, David Afkham or Álvaro Albiach, as well as important orchestras from his country (Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta y Coro RTVE, OBC, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla), and abroad (NDR Radiophilarmonie, Hannoversche Staatsoper, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Camerata Bern).
Nowadays, Javier plays on an instrument made by Justin Derazey, made at the end of the 19th century.
Alessandra Doninelli, Violoncello
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The Swiss-Austrian cellist Alessandra Doninelli earned international recognition with her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie giving the premiere of Daniel Pacitti cello concerto. Her radiant personality and expressive musicianship, brought Alessandra on the stages of the world’s leading venues, including the Tokyo Opera City, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Minato-Mirei hall in Yokohama, the Swiss federal Palace, the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona and the Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid.
Alessandra recently appeared as a soloist with the "Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana", the “ Basel Sinfonieorchester”, the "Stuttgarter Kammerorchester", the “Camerata dei Castelli” and the “Eurasian Soloists Chamber Orchestra” under the baton of Andrey Boreyko, Kevin Griffiths, Paul Gulda, Andreas Laake and François Benda.
“Music is capable of moving the mountains and when we share those fleeting episodes of sound with others, the entire planet finds itself in another galaxy” through those words Alessandra expresses the power that chamber music has for her. She worked with inspiring mentors including Günter Pichler (alban Berg quartet), Oliver Wille, Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quarett), Heime Müller (Artemis Quarett), Heinz Holliger and won the prize for the “best chamber music group with piano” of 2020-2021 academic year at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia awarded by the queen of Spain.
Alessandra performed at various festivals including "Herbst in der Helferei", “Pablo Casals Festival”, “Monighetti&Friends, “Musik Miteinander” at the Kronberg Academy, “Musique à Flaine”, “Eggenfelden Klassisch”, “Ceresio Estate” and collaborated with inspiring chamber music partners such as Vilde Frang, Yura Lee, Fabio di Casola, Mi-kyung Lee, Roland Glassl and Calogero Palermo.
The BBC Radio3 broadcasted multiple times the live-recording of her Saint Saens cello concerto with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. She created a long lasting relationship with the Swiss-Italian Radio-television (RSI) giving a live-concert recital with the pianist Dominic Chamot, appearing in the tv program “Paganini” and in the documentary film “Archi nel Sol Levante”. For the RSI Alessandra also recorded the piano trio of the Dutch composer Elisabeth Kuyper, showing her passion for the discovery of neglected composer and her aim to bring their music to light.
Alessandra studied under the guidance of Ivan Monighetti and Sol Gabetta at the Hochschule für Musik Basel and later at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. Furthermore she was part of the 2019 class at the Pavia cello academy with Enrico Dindo and is currently studying with Wen Sinn Yang at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.
Riccardo Gagliardi, Piano
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Riccardo Gagliardi began studying piano privately with his father, a teacher at the Conservatory of Perugia, doing the pre-academic study at the Rinaldo Franci Institute of Higher Musical Studies in Siena, and with M. Piernarciso Masi. In 2016, he moved to Munich in order to study at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater by Professor Margarita Höhenrieder-Dornier, a teacher with whom he graduated in 2020 and completed his concert-oriented master's degree in 2022 with the best note (1.0). He is currently further perfecting himself by attending the master's degree in chamber music by Prof. Silke Avenhaus at the Hochschule in Munich and taking the three-year conducting course at the international academy "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola by Prof. Marco Boni. Since 2020 he has become principal assistant of M. Höhenrieder in Munich. He specialized with internationally renowned masters including: M. Andras Schiff; M. Riccardo Risaliti; M. Ingo Dannhorn; M. Johann Schmidt; M. Piernarciso Masi; etc. His piano skill has led him to perform in the European music scene for numerous festivals and seasons in Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Romania, etc…, either as a soloist, in chamber ensembles or with orchestras from the international scene, including: orchestra of Aachen, Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra "Mihail Jora", orchestra "Estrorchestra" of Livorno, chamber orchestra of Gubbio, etc.
Riccardo Gagliardi is the winner of numerous national and international awards, including: first prize at the international competition Lagny-Sur-Marne (Paris, category "Jeune"), four prizes in three editions (4th, 2nd, 1st prize and special prize for the best performance of a classical sonata) at the international competition "San Donà di Piave", third prize at the international competition "Harald Genzmer" in Munich, first prize and first prize overall at the national competition "Città di Piove di Sacco", second prize at the "Sergio Cafaro Prize" international competition in Rome, as well as 2nd prize at the "MozARTe International Piano Competition" in Aachen, third prize at the "Orbetello International Piano Competition," third prize at the "Delia Steinberg" international competition in Madrid, second prize at the "Maria Giubilei" international competition, first prize at the national competition "Città di Riccione," second prize at the international competition "Sergio Cafaro Prize" in Rome, special jury prize at the "Youth of Music International Competition" in Bucharest, first prize at the "Massarosa International Piano Competition," first prize at the "Amigdala International Piano Competition." first prize at the "Franz Liszt Center Competition" in Budapest, recently 3 prizes (first category, first overall of the whole competition, special prize for the best performance of classical piece) at the "Città di Minerbio" International Competition September 2022, first prize at the 31st Roma International Piano Competition - emerging pianists section, November 2022.