Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion

Daniela Ferrati is a pianist featured on Mario Totaro: Chamber Works. On this recording, Daniela performs The Raven with violinist Angioletta Iannucci and narrator Vito Maraula.

Ivan Gambini is a percussionist featured on Mario Totaro: Chamber Works. On this recording, Ivan performs Vivo for marimba and piano, the solo percussion work Ba’atti, and Lots of Thence, in which his instruments include clarinet, vibraphone and drums.

Mario Totaro graduated in piano from the Conservatory “G. Rossini” in Pesaro with honours and in composition from the Conservatory “G. Verdi” in Milan with top marks. He studied piano with Franco Scala and composition with Mario Garuti. Mario Totaro initially devoted himself to piano and continued his studies at the "Mozarteum" in Salzburg under Carlo Zecchi and in Imola ("Incontri col Maestro") under Gyorgy Sandor, Alexander Lonquich, Aldo Ciccolini, Nikita Magaloff and Bruno Canino. At nineteen Totaro became a Professor at the Conservatory of Pesaro, where he’s still teaching. He has been awarded prizes in several piano competitions both national and international. Totaro has given several concerts in Italy and abroad where he presented programs based on improvisation and “contamination” between musical genres. In 1992, he was one of the founders of the Trio Diaghilev (two pianos and percussion). With the Trio Diaghilev Totaro proposed some of the most relevant 20th century masterpieces as well as his own original compositions in prestigious concerts seasons in Italy and abroad, some of which being the "Rossini Opera Festival", "Ente Concerti" - Pesaro, "Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti" and "Cidim - Musica Duemila" - Rome, "Sagra Musicale Malatestiana" - Rimini, "Associazione A. Scarlatti" - Naples, "Società Filarmonica" - Trento, "Autunno Musicale" - Como, Bologna Philarmonic Orchestra, Filarmonica A. Toscanini, Orchestra Nazionale RAI, Haydn Orchester, and in important radio programs. As a Professor Totaro has held courses of instrumental specialization and musical analysis based on original and innovative formulas, which exploit the connections between the brain, the Central Nervous System and the movements required in musical execution. Totaro has been awarded in international competitions for some of his works ("Ennio Porrino" - Cagliari) that have been broadcast on different occasions during RAI Radio productions (“Radiotre Suite”, “Il brivido della classica”, "Piazza Verdi"). He has been commissioned by important artistic institutions (“Rossini Opera Festival”, “Feste Musicali di Bologna”, "Sagra Musicale Malatestiana”,“Accademia Pianistica Incontri col Maestro”,"Rassegna Lirica Torelliana”, "Centro Astor Piazzolla" etc.). Totaro has directed the “Laboratory of 20th Century and Contemporary Music” at the Conservatory of Pesaro, whose aim is to study last-century masterpieces, to stimulate new musical proposals and to promote the music of the latest generations.

The TRIO DIAGHILEV “perform continual ‘coups de theatre’ to the point where they transform an apparently simple concert into truly remarkable performance... with infinitely more daring effects when compared with the orchestral versions”…. “the way in which the Trio succeeds in creating symphonic sounds is impressive, as is the dynamism of the two pianos and percussion…” - comments from the Munich "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Each player’s stunning instrumental technique, the virtuosity of the pianists, the percussion’s impressive impact, their refined taste and respectful open-mindedness, together with their creativity and resulting emotional tension make the Trio Diaghilev's performances into an astonishing and exciting evening.
The Trio Diaghilev's repertoire includes some of the greatest 20th century musical masterpieces (including works by Bartok, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Satie, Holst, Ravel, Bernstein, Gershwin and Weill) as well as original compositions written especially for them.
The Trio has gained much critical acclaim and great enthusiasm from the public in Italy and abroad. They have performed in prestigious events and festivals (Galleria dei Suoni- Musica 2000- Cidim, Rome; I Concerti dell’Ateneo/UIC, Rome; Futuroma on the opening night for the celebrations of the centenary of the Futurist Movement, Rome; XLuna for the celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the landing on the moon, Roma; Gioventù Musicale Italiana, Milano; Auditorium Manzoni, Bologna; Associazione Scarlatti, Napoli; ROF (Rossini Opera Festival), Pesaro; Ente Concerti also in Pesaro; Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, Rimini; Autunno Musicale, Como; Amici della Musica, Ancona; Cittadella Theatre, Lugano; Internationales Iffeldorfer Meisterkonzer, Ifferdorf; Moore Theatre, Seattle; Benaroya Hall, Seattle; Rialto Theatre, Tacoma).
They have also worked with some important dance companies (the Italian Ballet company directed by Carla Fracci and Beppe Menegatti, the Dance Theatre of Torino conducted by Matteo Levaggi and the Spectrum Dance Theatre of Seattle conducted by Donald Byrd). They have also taken part as invited ‘guests of honour’ in RAI (Italian Radio) broadcasts (“Radiotre Suite” in Roma, Salone del Lingotto in Torino). They have also performed with the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale-Bologna, the Filarmonica Toscanini-Parma, The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai of Torino, the Haydn Orchester of Bolzano and Trento conducted by Michele Mariotti in Bartok’s Concerto for two pianos, percussion and orchestra.
The Trio Diaghilev have recorded Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Petrushka, also Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin on the Taukay label, distributed worldwide by Eroica Classical Recordings.

Béla Bartok: (b Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary [now Sînnicolau Mare, Romania], 25 March 1881; d New York, 26 Sept 1945). Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and pianist. Although he earned his living mainly from teaching and playing the piano and was a relentless collector and analyst of folk music, Bartók is recognized today principally as a composer. His mature works were, however, highly influenced by his ethnomusicological studies, particularly those of Hungarian, Romanian and Slovak peasant musics. Throughout his life he was also receptive to a wide variety of Western musical influences, both contemporary (notably Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg) and historic; he acknowledged a change from a more Beethovenian to a more Bachian aesthetic stance in his works from 1926 onwards. He is now considered, along with Liszt, to be his country’s greatest composer, and, with Kodály and Dohnányi, a founding figure of 20th-century Hungarian musical culture.