Prisma and the Eclecticism of the OSN Rai Brass Quintet (2014)

On November 9, 2014, the “A. Toscanini” Rai Auditorium in Turin hosted a significant event of the “Altro che Classica” cycle, part of the “Domeniche dell’Auditorium” season. The event opened with a conversation with musicologist Paolo Gallarati, who provided the critical framework for a highly heterogeneous program performed by the Brass Quintet of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai.

The Program: A Dialectic Between Eras and Styles

The ensemble, featuring Roberto Rossi and Roberto Rivellini (trumpets), Ettore Bongiovanni (horn), Devid Ceste (trombone), and Gianfranco Marchesi (bass trombone), navigated a journey from the Baroque of Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Prelude from Te Deum) and the Renaissance of William Byrd (The Earl of Oxford’s Marche) to the rigor of J.S. Bach (Contrapunctus IX). The quintet's instrumental maturity shone through in the handling of Romantic dynamics by Grieg and Brahms, paving the way for the contemporary suggestions of Andrea Ravizza's Prisma.

Sound Refraction and Applied Music

Within this context, Prisma served as a point of reflection on modern sound perception, in an ideal dialogue with famous works by John Williams (Schindler’s List), Nino Rota (Rotary), and a suite dedicated to Disney music. The performance highlighted the Quintet’s ability to manage sharp transitions between different musical environments, manifesting the cyclical nature and timbral transparency that characterize Ravizza’s production during this early period.