Book Presentation: "Sergio Cafaro, il collezionista di meraviglie", by Francesco Libetta with Alessio Zuccaro (Zecchini)

SERGIO CAFARO: A Collector of Wonders

With an Anthology of Writings and Drawings

With contributions from Anna Maria Martinelli, Mauro Arbusti, Christopher Axworthy, Pieralberto Biondi, Paola Bučan Porena, Tiziana Cosentino, Daniela Costa, Michele Dall’Ongaro, Paolo Fazioli, Stefano Fiuzzi, Laura Manzini, Michele Marvulli, Luisa Prayer, Roberto Prosseda, Riccardo Risaliti, Giuliana Soscia, Gianni Tangucci, and Luca Verdone.

The book includes “A Remembrance of Sergio Cafaro” by Carlo Verdone.

A pianist and composer, collector of beetles and fossils, writer with a distinctive sense of humour, and draughtsman, Sergio Cafaro was born in Rome and, apart from a few years spent in North Africa during the Second World War, lived in his native city throughout his life.

Through autobiographical and fictional writings, together with first-hand accounts by Cafaro’s wife, friends, colleagues, and students, this volume retraces his childhood in Tripoli, his experience at the Geneva Competition and his encounter with Sergio Fiorentino—whom he would admire throughout his life—his involvement in Giacinto Scelsi’s avant-garde works, and his collaborations with Milstein, Szeryng, Carmirelli, Biondi, A. Ciammarughi, Bučan, De Barberiis, and Rota. It also evokes his circle of friends, including Professor Mario Verdone and composer Boris Porena.

What emerges is both the portrait of a singular artistic personality and that of an entire cultural milieu: the vibrant musical scene of post-war Rome. It was here that Cafaro succeeded in creating a life devoted to art—his own world, free from natural enemies—in which music was understood as an ethical commitment, in a dialogue between the intimacy of domestic life and the unattainable dimension of Art.

Contents

“A Remembrance of Sergio Cafaro” by Carlo Verdone

Introduction

Training within the Roman piano milieu of the post-war period. A musical career between the private sphere and public life

– Milstein, Szeryng, Pina, Rubinstein, Tosatti, Scelsi and…

Concert Activity

Compositions

Recordings

Collections

Expression and Creativity as a Philosophy of Life. Writings, Drawings and Paintings

– Sognare… sognare…, De abberratione mentis, Botanica assurda (Famiglia delle “straniflore”), Homo, Nomi “buffi…comici…assurdi”, Raccontini folli, Il libricino dei musicisti, Il nuovo libricino di Sports e altri Mestieri, Menu di capodanno, I miei luoghi. Préludes, Images

Conversations and Interviews

– Anna Maria Martinelli-Cafaro, Mauro Arbusti, Christopher Axworthy, Giuseppe Barbieri, Pieralberto Biondi, Paola Bučan Porena, Tiziana Cosentino, Daniela Costa, Michele Dall’Ongaro, Paolo Fazioli, Stefano Fiuzzi, Laura Manzini, Michele Marvulli, Marcello Panni, Luisa Prayer, Roberto Prosseda, Riccardo Risaliti, Giuliana Soscia, Gianni Tangucci, Luca Verdone

Catalogues of Compositions

Selected Dedications to His Students

Acknowledgements

Index of Names