Bollani will make us dance with jazz.

When one talks about Stefano Bollani, ones talks about jazz, recognised at an international level and multiple award winning. He is Milanese, thirty-seven years old and has a talent and an appeal to be jealous of. His piano has brought him all over the world and on Wednesday 10th March he will stop in Varese, at the Apollonio Theatre, for a charity concert in favour of the Francesca Rava N.P.H. Italy Onlus Foundation in support of the new department of neonatology in the Saint Damien Psychiatric Hospital in Haiti (twined with Ponte Hospital in Varese). A unique night for those who love his music and who expect a lot of surprises because as Bollani says “When I make concerts alone, I don’t prepare a programme schedule and I will be carried away by the night, by the audience, by the emotions. The only rule is the absence of rules, I could play pieces by American, Italian, Brazilian authors or others. Everything is left to the moment.”

In a charity concert, do you think that the music can bring along also a message of solidarity?
“I believe that if someone has the face and can do something, it is right that they do it. I was struck by the Haitian images and I decided to make this concert. Moreover, it is a pleasure coming back to Varese, I have already played here two and three times in the recent years.”

 How was “Carioca live”, your last project, born,?
"It is a DVD that contains the concert in Villa Arconati in Bollate, the last of a long tour. The CD “Carioca”, instead, was born some years ago, when I went for the first time to Brasil. I was remained struck by the energy and by the enthusiasm of their acoustics and we recorded a CD with Italian and Brazilian musicians. It was a was to complete this project. However, it’s not said that I will record again with Brazilian music.”

“Carioca”, as jazz in general, seems to force the musicians into a continual work of experimentation and research. Is that true?
“Yes, it is. Because where there is true improvisation, there is the wish to surpass our limits and projects.”

How much and how has your music path changed during these years?
“It always changes. I have been playing for too many years now to have not had at least four or five changes. There is always wish to improvise, seeing how your music grows, understanding …   .”

When you play, you manage to express a great simplicity and amusement. How does it happen?
“It depends on the fact that it is natural for me. I have been playing the piano since I was six and the piano language is natural for me. It would be unnatural, if I presented it as something difficult. The piano is a habit for me and I believe that like many things that you love in life, you must joke a bit to support them.”

Varese loves very much Giovanni Allevi, another pianist. What do you think about him?
“It is a question that all people ask me and I don’t know why. I believe that the reason is connected at the common instrument. Among musicians so different as him and I, it isn’t possible to compare. As a person, I believe that they attribute fantastic things to him, he is a good musician, but saying that he is the new Mozart, is exaggerated.

You are ones of the musicians, who has brought the mainstream public to jazz, considered niche music …
“Yes, it is. But it is also for style. The fact of being on television or in the newspapers helps very much and attracts people. In two years time, I could find myself playing in front a much smaller audience. Jazz is a music that doesn’t pretend to be fashionable, as in 1930, when it was used for dancing, but it won’t die.”

The tickets are available in the Theatre www.teatrodivarese.it or on the Ticketone  booking circuit.

The Theatre booking office is open from Monday to Saturday, from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. .

When there is the performance, the booking office is from 3.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. or 8.00 p.m. to 9 p.m. .

For information call 0332 247897
Tickets, single seat 25 euros + commission
Under 25, 20 euros + commission