Biography
Arturo Stàlteri, a pianist and composer whose work spans minimalism, Romantic traditions, cinematic scores, literary inspirations including J.R.R. Tolkien, and rock figures such as The Rolling Stones, also serves as a radio broadcaster. Born in Rome on October 22, 1959, he spells his surname both with and without the accent mark, even on his personal site. His father worked as a television journalist while his mother played piano, and Stàlteri followed both lines of influence; by age 11 he was recording his own simulated radio programs on tape, and in 1988 he joined Italy’s national network RAI, remaining on its schedule into the mid-2020s. His mother first guided him to the instrument. In 1974 he co-founded the progressive rock band Pierrot Lunaire with multi-instrumentalist Gaio Chiocchio, issuing several albums with the group. At the same time he continued formal classical studies, receiving a diploma from the Alfredo Casella Conservatory in Aquila in 1979 after working with Ermanno Pradella. From 1979 to 1985 he studied further with Vera Gobbi Belcredi, took lessons with Aldo Ciccolini during frequent visits to Paris, and attended master classes given by Vincenzo Vitale and Konstantin Bogino. Assembled from recordings made at intervals throughout the 1980s, the album … and the peacock spoke to the moon appeared in 1987 and drew on Indian musical traditions. Circles, released in 1998 on the Materiali label, contained music by Philip Glass. Stàlteri characterizes his own idiom as Romantic Post-Minimalist and lists Wim Mertens, Chopin, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Brian Eno among his sources. His catalog comprises both original solo albums and collections devoted to works by other composers, chiefly minimalists and progressive rock musicians. After first reading Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy at 18, he produced several related recordings, among them Rings: Il Decimo Anella in 2004. An admirer of The Rolling Stones, he recorded his own version of Ruby Tuesday and placed it as a bonus track on the 2007 album Child of the Moon: Dieci Notturni e un’Alba, issued by Felmay. Additional Felmay releases include Half Angels (2009) and In Sete Altere (2014). He composed and performed the score for the 1921 silent film Selika and has collaborated extensively with other musicians while also appearing as a soloist, including at the Piano City Napoli festival. In 2023 he returned to recordings with Dodecagon, featuring music by Glass and released on the composer’s Orange Mountain Music label.
Albums
