There is a precise moment when study transforms into art, and that moment does not always occur within the walls of a classroom, but under the stage lights. This evening, the Auditorium Arvedi witnessed one of those rare alchemies that make the Stauffer Academy a world-class institution: the Playing with the Maestro project. After Roman Simovic and Mario Brunello, it was the turn of a giant of pianism such as Andrea Lucchesini, who shared the stage with the young talents of the Quartetto di Genova and the Quartetto Quazar.

The strength of the evening lay in the bold decision to juxtapose two antithetical masterpieces from the piano quintet repertoire, offering a demonstration of interpretative versatility. In Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, the Quartetto di Genova, guided by Lucchesini’s solid and warm pianism, explored the monumental architecture of German Romanticism. The performance only partially succeeded in conveying the contrast that should emerge between the heroic impulse of the outer movements and the intimacy of the finale, where the collaboration between the Maestro and the young string players created an almost symphonic sonic density capable of enveloping the entire hall. After some stiffness at the opening of the musical discourse—understandably less fluid in agogics and more fragmented in timbral blend and intent, perhaps due to the awareness of the formidable challenge ahead, but also to certain intrinsic difficulties of Brahms’s writing, at times redundant and not always effective musically because of the composer’s numerous revisions, which can put the clarity of the quartet’s articulation to the test—the ensemble, thanks to the luminous center of gravity provided by Maestro Lucchesini, found its balance and entered fully into the richness of this monument of chamber music.

The scherzo was rendered in all its splendor of rhythmic and thematic ideas; the young musicians spared no energy in the pressing anacrustic rhythms, engaging with the piano with confidence and passion. The summit was reached in the finale, with the group at ease amid sudden and abrupt changes of scenery, between tavern dances and bagpipe-like sounds, as in the most authentic and inspired Brahms.

A diametrically opposite approach was required for Shostakovich’s Quintet, Op. 57. Here, the Quartetto Quazar set aside Brahmsian balance and lyricism to immerse themselves in the stark, incisive atmosphere of the Soviet twentieth century. Together with Lucchesini—who transformed his timbral palette from the previous quintet, adopting colors almost expressionistic—the musicians sculpted each note with near-surgical precision: the neoclassical clarity of the opening movements was rendered at its best through a compact, highly projected sound, alongside a hypnotic purity in the exposition of the beautiful fugue. The scherzo was tackled in all its sulfurous and overflowing exuberance. The slow movement gave way to a subtle dramatic tension, culminating in a finale of extraordinary emotional lucidity, marked by brilliant march tempos sustained with momentum by the ensemble and seamlessly shifting into episodes of unsettling chromaticism.

Seeing these young performers playing side by side with an interpreter of such stature was not only a pleasure for the ear; it confirmed that great music is transmitted above all through osmosis. The Stauffer did not merely “teach,” but allowed its students to inhabit the stage together with one of the great masters of our time. It was a rare opportunity, transforming academic refinement into a true artistic initiation. Cremona once again proved itself to be the nerve center where the future protagonists of the musical scene learn, with humility and talent, from the very best.

The enthusiastic audience, filling every seat in the auditorium, responded with warm and sustained applause.

Photo report by Francesco Sessa Ventura