Italian cellist Matteo Montanari has performed in “An Italian Cello Night” concert at the Auditorium of the Italian Institute of Culture in Jakarta. The cellist played a programme dedicated to nine Italian composers, from Baroque to modern music. Jennifer Ongkowijoyo, a very young local talent, accompanied him on the piano while eleven young Indonesian cellists from prestigious music academies and high schools in Jakarta also performed on stage.
The day before the concert, the young cellists took part in a masterclass at the Institute. The concert programme included a sonata by Antonio Vivaldi; some famous cello transcriptions of Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini; works by lesser-known composers such as Angelo Mariani and Luigi Boccherini, and popular tunes such as the soundtrack of “The Godfather” by Nino Rota. The highlight of the evening was the famous “Va Pensiero” by Giuseppe Verdi. The event, which was organised in collaboration with the Italian embassy in Jakarta, was a great success thanks to a special synergy which developed between the artist and the young talents, some of whom performed in public for the first time.
