Pietro Rigacci

Pietro Rigacci
Pianist, composer and academic Pietro Rigacci was born in 1954, in Florence, to Italian conductor, pianist and composer Bruno Rigacci, and Swedish soprano Ulla Lindberg; both parents’ families were made up for four generations by musicians.

Rigacci was educated at the “L. Cherubini” Conservatory in Florence, where he studied with Maria Tipo, and graduated in Piano studies with highest honours (Summa Cum Laude), in 1976, and also obtained a first class degree in Composition, in 1977. Soon thereafter, at the age of only 23 Rigacci became Professor of Composition at the “L. Boccherini” Conservatory in Lucca, where he taught for the following 45 years.
In 1977 Rigacci won 1st Prize at “Ettore Pozzoli” International PianoCompetition, and in 1979-1980 he was prizewinner at the “Clara Haskil”, “Dino Ciani” (Teatro alla Scala), and “Vianna da Motta” (Lisbon) International Piano Competitions.
Rigacci has performed in all major theatres both in Italy and abroad, including in London (Queen Elizabeth Hall, Concert Hall at BBC), in Paris (Salle Gaveau), in Brussels, Stockholm, Helsinki, Dublin, Moskow, Chicago, San Diego and in Philadelphia. He also appeared as soloist with major orchestras, such as : Orchestra RAI di Torino, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), Swiss Italian Radio Orchestra, Colorado Symphony (Denver-USA)
Known to be a pianist with a wide-ranging repertoire (which extends from the great classics to contemporary music), Pietro Rigacci is considered by the international press an eminent pianist and performer (A. Bornhauser, Paris, said about him: «a pianist to be considered among the stars of international reputation», or L. Pinzauti, Florence: «music has no secrets for him»), as well as one of the most interesting performers of A. N. Scriabin (M. Hayes in The Times, London, described Rigacci as «an artist perfectly attuned to Scriabin’s fascinating fluctuations of mood, tempo and dynamics»).
Rigacci has deeply studied Scriabin’s works, directly consulting his manuscripts at the Glinka Museum (Moscow) and throughout his academic career, has also held several Masterclasses both in European and in American Universities on Scriabin’s Piano music, and in 1992, was invited to perform in the presence of Scriabin’s own descendants at the Scriabin Festival in Moscow.
Along with being an esteemed pianist, performer and academic, Rigacci is well-known to be a prominent composer: his works include operas, symphonic works as well as chamber music, songs and compositions for solo instruments.
Pietro Rigacci recorded nine times at the BBC in London, and furthermore at the RAI Italian Radio and has made a record of Schumann’s compositions for Fonè. He is currently recording for “DaVinciClassics”. He has also appeared on Italian and French Television.
Rigacci has recently performed in concert all 32 Beethoven Sonatas, executed in chronological order, in a lecture style concerts, during which he walks the audience through the significance, the writing style, the originality and the development of Beethoven, in comparison to some of the main composers of the 18th-19th century.
At the present time, Rigacci holds Masterclasses in Piano performing in Italy, and many of his live concerts can be found on his YouTube channel “Pietro Rigacci Live Concert”.