Luciano Contini

The luck of being in the right place at the right moment has shaped my life so far: the luck to grow up in Sassari (Sardinia) in the 1960s-1970s; the luck to have a family that was able to finance my studies and was willing to do so without any restrictions; the luck of meeting at the age of 10 a wonderful person like Armando Marrosu, the best guitar teacher one can imagine.

But also the good fortune to make decisions that later turned out to be right: to decide at the age of 20 on a career as a musician instead of (like my father) as a physician; to move to Basel after graduating in musicology in Bologna and to be admitted to study and work at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with influential personalities such as Hopkinson Smith, Jordi Savall, Michel Piguet, Jesper Bøje Christensen and Markus Jans among others. Also very important for the development of my musical personality was the constant exchange of ideas and playing with fellow students in Basel, especially with my unforgettable friend Karl-Ernst (Charlie) Schröder.

Subsequently, I began a successful career as a concert artist during which, alongside radio and television recordings, I participated in numerous recordings for various record companies as a chamber musician and soloist, and my CDs with works by A. Piccinini and G. Zamboni were praised by international critics as outstanding recordings.

1986, soon after completing my studies in Basel, I decided to move to Vienna, where I began to teach at the MDW in 1988 and since 1997 also at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna (today MUK), until my retirement in 2023.

“During the years of his study L.C. has particularly distinguished himself…he is a musician with considerable knowledge and a strong charisma.”

Dr. P. REIDEMEISTER, former Director of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

“L.C. is an intelligent and original musician…Zamboni’s CD is truly beautiful: full of life, imagination, clarity, great sound…enchanting from start to finish.”

H. SMITH, former professor for lute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

“L.C. is a poetical, concentrated, soft and precise player with a clear notion on interpretation and a remarkable sense of tone… a brilliant technique”.

L’ARENA DI VERONA, C.Bo, D.P.

“…L.C. played realy virtuosically…He allowed the complete range of palying that is possible to come out…”

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, H.Z.

“The outstanding lutenist L.C. plays with a virtuosic technique and selected musicality. The effect is enchanting.”

PIANO TIME, B.Re

“…L.C. displays to the listener a musical world full of coulor and imagination. His playing sounds unbelievably precise and clean…dinamyc and full of fantasy and intelligent…clear and yet effectively phrased.”

FONO FORUM, S.Benda

“…From the very first note on one falls under the charming spell of a soft but decisive playing, which is, in an intelligent way, a critical look at contrapuntal structures and virtuosic passages…a wonderful recording”.

REPERTOIRE, M.Laizé

“…Vitality and his exeptional taste are charateristic for L.C.’s interpretation. His especially clear and aristocratical phrasing allows the voices to be heard even in the polyphonical context of the Toccata. In his fine differentiatin of melodic line; C.’s playing bestows a transparence and infectious flourish…The fugal passages are mastered with great virtuosity…a first class soloist.”

DIAPASON, J.Bernard

“….in order to complete the rediscovery of Piccinini, the recording from L.C. would be the one most recommended…”

REPERTOIRE, E. Sebbag

“L.C. amazes us with the transparence of his interpretation. The poliphony is of incredible clarity, the execution of the toccatas is spellbinding. Piccinini’s music can be heard in its entir freshness and makes us yearn for more.”

TABLATURE, A.Dall’Osso