The Italian Institute of Culture in Prague presented a piano concert on October 29 entitled, “Bach is in the air”, featuring the duo Danilo Rea and Ramin Bahrami. The event, produced in collaboration with the IIC of Warsaw and the New Age Productions agency, in the sphere of the ITALIAN SOUNDS project and the integrated promotional plan promoted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation “VivereALL’Italiana”, also received the patronage of the Italian Embassy in Prague. It was held at HAMU concert hall, the faculty of music and dance at the Academy of the Entertainment Arts.
The concert, with the Italian pianist Rea and the Iranian pianist Bahrami, was applauded at length by the audience, and the artists played two encores. “Bach is in the air” is a revival in a classical-jazz key of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. In a dialogue between two pianos in which the classical music is interwoven with jazz improvisation, the duo “desecrated” the music of the German composer from Baroque, “re-consecrating it” with a more contemporary sound, in its timeless greatness impervious to fashions.
Danilo Rea is an unrivaled authority in the world of Italian jazz piano. He made a name for himself at the international level playing with a number of great American soloists, from Chet Baker to Lee Konitz. A versatile musician with a solid classical background, he does not disdain incursions into the songwriters’ world, collaborating with artists like Mina, Pino Daniele, Claudio Baglioni and Gino Paoli.
The Iranian pianist, Ramin Bahrami, on the other hand, is considered one of the finest interpreters of Bach, and has recorded over twenty records of his music in addition to dedicating a book to him: “How Bach Saved My Life”.
