11 april 2026, 7.30 pm

Ars Ludi / Ars Trio di Roma

The Noise of Time

music by Dmitrij Šostakovič, Charles Ives, Guo WenJing  

The concert will be preceded, at 5.00 PM, by a discussion with musicologist Renzo Cresti, entitled Where Our Present is Born

Dmitrij Šostakovič (1906-1975)
Sinfonia n. 15 op. 141a, arrangement by Viktor Derevianko

Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Trio (1911)
Moderato, TSIAJ – Presto, Moderato con moto

Guo Wenjing (1956)
Drama for three percussionists

Ars Ludi
Antonio Caggiano, Rodolfo Rossi, Gian Luca Ruggeri  percussion

Ars Trio
Laura Pietrocini  piano
Marco Fiorentini  violin
Valeriano Taddeo  cello   

2026 - Il rumore del tempo

Shostakovich’s last symphony, the Fifteenth is an enigmatic and intensely autobiographical work, punctuated by quotations, irony and premonitions of the end. Composed in the last years of the composer’s life, it reflects the artist’s condition under a totalitarian regime, where musical language becomes mask, allusion and testimony. The arrangement by Viktor Derevianko for the ensemble highlights its fragmented and visionary character, amplifying the tension between apparent lightness and underlying drama, in a meditation on human fragility and the weight of history.

In dialogue with this vision is Charles Ives’s Trio (1911), which challenges the idea of formal unity through overlaps, contrasts and ironic references. The transition between Moderato and Presto reflects a discontinuous and contradictory perception of the world, anticipating many fractures of the twentieth century. The programme closes with Drama for three percussionists by Guo Wenjing, in which sound becomes gesture and action. Percussion constructs an essential and physical dramaturgy, evoking conflict, ritual and resistance, and rendering a universal vision of the human condition.

The concert is preceded by a discussion with the musicologist Renzo Cresti, at 5.00 PM.

Ars Ludi - Awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Music Biennale in 2022, Ars Ludi is a percussion ensemble with a variable lineup. Since its inception (it was founded in 1987 by Antonio Caggiano and Gianluca Ruggeri), it has pursued an artistic journey along two interpretative dimensions. On the one hand, it presents a contemporary percussion repertoire through its international concerts. On the other, Ars Ludi’s work has been characterised by the conception and implementation of diverse and broader projects, especially in instrumental and musical theatre, involving many artists from a wide range of disciplines.  It has taken part in many prestigious international festivals such as Locarno (video-art), the French Academy, the German Academy, RomaEuropa festival, Biennale Musica, Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte, Monday Evening Concerts-Los Angeles, Manca in Nice, New York Interpretations, Festival Cervantino, Aterforum-Ferrara, Vienna "Land im Klang", MusicaACOUSTICA-Beijing, Musica/Italia in Edinburgh, Fylkingen in Stockholm, GAS in Gothenburg, Mittelfest, Nuova Consonanza, REC, Reich Festival-Roma, Milanesiana, etc. It has made recordings for Brilliant, Edipan, BMG, Pontesonoro and Stradivarius.

Ars Trio di Roma - Having perfected their skills under the guidance of the Trio di Trieste at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, they won 1^st Prize in the "Città di Pinerolo" International Competition and 1^st Prize Overall in the prestigious "Premio Trio di Trieste" International Competition in Trieste, the last Italian ensemble to have achieved this recognition. Ars Trio has been a guest of Italy’s most important concert associations. They have also performed extensively abroad in major venues in South America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil). The Trio has been invited to perform at the Martinu Hall at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague (Czech Republic), the Column Hall of the Kyiv Philharmonic (Ukraine), the Stefaniensaal in Graz (Austria) and has participated in major festivals in Germany, such as the Scharwenka Festival in Lübeck and the Bachfest in Leipzig. They have also performed concerts in England, France, Lithuania, Turkey and China.

Renzo Cresti, musicologist, former professor and director of the Lucca Conservatory of Music, he is President of the Cappella Musicale at the Cathedral of Lucca, Honorary President of the Suono Sacro Associazione in Assisi and Honorary Member of the Italian Society of Contemporary Music. He was artistic consultant of the Giglio Theatre and Artistic Director of numerous associations, as well as of the European Community project “Sonata di Mare”. He was also editor and contributor to magazines and his essays have been translated into English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese. His interests include teaching (with the musical history volume, La vita della musica [The Life of Music], in six editionsi), Richard Wagner (Richard Wagner e la poetica del puro umano [Richard Wagner and the Poetics of the Pure Human], also in English, now in its third edition in 2026) and Giacomo Puccini (Giacomo Puccini e il Postmoderno [Giacomo Puccini and Postmodernism], translated into English and Japanese), and especially contemporary themes and composers, with the Enciclopedia Italiana dei Compositori Contemporanei [Italian Encyclopedia of Contemporary Composers] (in 3 volumes and 10 cds) and monographs on Franco Donatoni, Aldo Clementi, Niccolò Castiglioni, Luciano Chailly, Franco Margola, Giorgio Gaslini and others. Among his most recent books is Musica presente 2^nd ed. 2019), and under the same title Cresti directs the online recording editions, available on major online platforms. In addition, Sylvano Bussotti e l’opera geniale (Sylvano Bussotti and His Brilliant Work) (2021), Armonie incerte future (Uncertain Future Harmonies) (2025). His website is www.renzocresti.com