NEWS

Biography

Mauro Bertoli, pianist, born in Brescia, Italy, and resident in Ottawa, Canada, has established himself on the international stage and has been praised by the press for his formidable technique and exceptional sensitivity.
He has performed for important Festivals and in major concert halls throughout Europe, North America, Israel, Brazil and China.

Mauro’s recordings have been broadcast on CBC Radio, Rádio Câmara Brazil, Brasilia Super Rádio, Radio ClassicaBresciana, Radio Classica Milano, among others.

Besides focusing on his solo career, Mauro is an active chamber musician.

He won the “Giuseppe Sinopoli Award”, a prestigious Italian prize awarded personally by Giorgio Napolitano, the President of the Italian Republic.

He is currently Associate Piano Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON.

A personal message

Through Divine Providence, I am privileged to have an extraordinary aptitude for playing the piano, and I am extremely thankful to be blessed in this way.

As a professional musician, I carry certain personal responsibilities that include countless hours of dedication, self-sacrifice, and long years of study. Without the benefit of a special, natural gift, these commitments alone would be insufficient for me to perform as a concert pianist at this level.

My goal is to share this gift with as many people as possible so that they may enjoy and benefit from my own vision of how the music I love should sound. I sincerely hope that every member of my audience will feel the joy and pleasure that I experience when presenting music to them.

No words can adequately express my gratitude to my excellent teachers - unique individuals whose generosity, guidance, and knowledgeable advice enabled me to become a concert artist.

I want to thank my family and friends for the love, support, and sustained encouragement that is vital to me in my chosen career.

 

Download complete CV            

Schedule

Gallery

Artist-in-Residence announcement

COC Toronto

New World Trio

Photos by Cora Zilli

Barrie Colours of Music

Beijing ABM Festival

With cellists

With violinists

With Philippe Entremont

Premio Sinopoli

Mauro

Carnival of the Animals

Teachers

Round Top Texas

Palm Beach ICPA 2008

Chamber Music

Nazionale Italiana Pianisti

Israel Tour

Matrimonio

Audio

Italian Memories

Paul Marleyn (cello) and Mauro Bertoli (piano)

Rhapsody in Blue and other piano works

From Mozart to Khachaturian

Piano works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Granados, Ginastera

Lucia Cooreman Luque and Mauro Bertoli: Violin and Piano

Mauro Bertoli plays Beethoven and Schumann

Piano Recital

“In the world of classical music, Italy has long been known for producing famous singers and conductors. For some reason, though, the list of renowned Italian pianists is considerably shorter - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Maurizio Pollini are among those who come to mind. However, with the release of three CDs on an indipendent label featuring a young artist by the name of Mauro Bertoli, that list should be immediately augmented! Born in Italy, Mr. Bertoli has been the recipient of several international piano prizes including the prestigious Giuseppe Sinopoli Award in 2006, and he has appeared in major concert halls throughout Europe, North America, Israel and China. It’s our good fortune that he has decided to settle in Canada, where he’s currently on the piano performance faculty at Carleton University in Ottawa...”

Richard Haskell – The Whole Note Magazine

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“ ... The biography does contain a 'personal recommendation' by veteran French pianist/conductor Philippe Entremont, which at least suggests that Bertoli is a pianist worth hearing - and so it turns out. Not only does he have the technique and panache to dazzle in Granados's lyrical note-spectacular, the Allegro de Concierto, Schumann's underrated Paganini Studies or the last of Ginastera's colourful Argentinean Dances, but also the poetry to move heart and soul in Brahms's Intermezzo in A or Pärt's simple, but startlingly poignant Für Alina, and to evoke the elegiac qualities of Liszt's E minor Hungarian Rhapsody.
Bertoli is thankfully no Flash Harry: even in Liszt's quirkier, sometimes riotous D flat Rhapsody he eschews self-indulgence and gives the listener the composer rather than the performer - a far cry from certain other young pianists. He seems equally at home playing Scarlatti, Shostakovich or Schumann, although it is in the lattermost's delightful works that he seems to exude particular enjoyment, which the listener cannot help but share.
The three recitals all follow a similar pattern: some attractive 19th century repertoire based around Schumann or Liszt, with various extensions forward into the 20th century and the odd foray back into the 1800s. The three discs blend a happy mix of lighter fare - the pieces by Mozart, Gershwin, Pärt, Scarlatti and Ginastera - with more red-blooded pianism from Liszt and Granados, whilst Schumann and Brahms cover the middle ground. The relatively rare Rhapsody in Blue in Gershwin's solo piano version - which plays down the gaudy 'Hollywoodness' of either of those for orchestra or even for piano duo - is a highlight of its disc: Bertoli is riveting... “

MusicWeb International

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“Mauro Bertoli, the Italian pianist now resident in Ottawa, sat down in a studio for a few days and recorded three CD’s of solo piano music, mostly Schumann and Liszt, with glances back to Scarlatti and Mozart, and to more modern times with Shostakovich and Gershwin, Aarvo Part, Granados and Ginastera.

It’s all good, really good. Technically Bertoli’s playing is spot on. He has feeling for everything he plays, and his powers of expression seem unimpeded. I enjoyed the jazzy strength of his Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Bertoli’s Liszt is bright and surprisingly soft; he is sensitive to the changing, introspective textures of the Brahms Intermezzo Op.118, No.2.

It’s clear Bertoli loves sharing his pleasure in playing Schumann. Bertoli delights with Schumann’s early, festive, Papillons; impresses with the formidable Paganini Etudes; is moving with the middle period lament for his dead brother Nachstucke; and the Sonata for the Young is full of the dramatic passion of Schumann’s later period.

My favourite moments with Bertoli’s albums were discovering the music of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera. The bitonally coloured Danzas Argentinas Op.2 are gentle and wild, melodic and atonal, expansive as the pampas, and dense with criollo cacophonics. No wonder Emerson, Lake and Palmer borrowed from Ginastera.

Bertoli’s albums are music for all seasons: they offer a variety of musical charms that you can focus on and listen to, or use to elegantize the tone of a social gathering. Their titles are: Rhapsody in Blue and other piano works; From Mozart to Khachaturian; Piano Works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Granados, Ginastera.”

Stanley Fefferman reviews 3 CDs by solo pianist MAURO BERTOLI

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The young Italian pianist Mauro Bertoli, now based in Ottawa, Canada, displays considerable hubris in leading off his recent solo CD with three well-known Scarlatti sonatas. If he felt he had something to say that Horowitz and Pogorelich hadn’t already said, he was right. These Scarlattis call upon his proficient technique and Italian finesse to bring out their excitement and subtleties. Bertoli is very much up to the task.

The CD (Mauro Bertoli label, ASIN: B00BRR3XT0) opens with the energetic E minor, L325, played with a feathery touch that however drives forward relentlessly. The Scarlatti themes emerge with miraculous fluidity. The next two tracks, L349 in G major and L430 in E major, maintain his high standard as the sonatas shift effortlessly from singing phrases to staccato statements, all minutely nuanced. Scarlatti’s flair for capturing the sheer joy of music is comfortable territory for Bertoli.

Equally impressive on this disc are 11 Schumann pieces, including the repertoire favorite Toccata Opus 7. He concludes with lively and accessible selections from Spanish composer/pianist Enrique Granados and lesser-known Argentine Alberto Ginastera

Young Italian pianist at ease with Scarlatti

Video

Beethoven Piano Concerto n.1 op.15 - Mauro Bertoli - Philippe Entremont

     

CTV Ottawa Morning Live interview

Concerto - Canadian Opera Company Toronto

OMNI TV - Canadian Opera Company Toronto

For more videos visit my YouTube Channel

 

Reviews

GRAVENHURST - The evening was billed as “A Melange of Melodramas,” and this past Friday at the Gravenhurst Opera House it lived up to its name. Actor/narrator Kevin White, in collaboration with pianist Mauro Bertoli, related several of Erik Satie’s comic Sportsman sequences before rendering the more dramatic and sombre Madame Bovary (Milhaud), The Castle by the Sea (Richard Strauss) and concluding with The Sad Monk (Liszt). White exemplified the characters masterfully, resulting in the audience giggling at the humorous nuances and, then subsequently and contrastingly, feeling the pain and sorrows of each.
Bertoli, using his superb musicality and impeccable technical skills, provided the perfect backdrop for every scene … the sea rolling, the horror of ghosts, the delightful spring day, the horses galloping. However, his piano solos, chosen from the works of Satie, Poulenc and Liszt, left the audience wishing for more. His insightful dynamics and clear notation made each composer’s intention come alive, whether lyrical, peaceful, suspenseful, colourful, lively, joyful, sad or grandiose.
This concert, the first of the four of their 2013-14 season, was presented by the Muskoka Concert Association.

Cottagecountrynow.ca – Oct.24, 2013

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It wasn’t Vladimir Horowitz, who “tickled the ivories” at Southminster United Church last Wednesday noon, but Mauro Bertoli, a young Italian born pianist. He played on the beautiful Heintzman 9-foot concert grand, built in 1904, which for many years was the stage grand at the venerable Massey Hall in downtown Toronto. Indeed, years ago Horowitz himself had played this very instrument.

Bertoli, who has a long list of accomplishments, is presently Artist-in-Residence at Carleton University. He, at an early age, has acquired an international reputation that spans his homeland, Latin America, the United Sates and Canada.

His presentation on Wednesday in my estimation rivals any piano concert that I have attended. It was a wide-ranging repertoire from Johannes Brahms, the Intermezzo from Op. 118, concluding with George Gershwin’s inimitable Rhapsody in Blue. Schumann and Liszt were also part of his outstanding performance.

But what brought me to my feet with loud “WOWS” and “BRAVOS” was his rendition of the Allegro da Concerto by Enrique Granados. I hurried to acquire his disc containing that performance after the show.

If Mauro Bertoli’s concert presages what is to come then my outburst of “WOWS” at last week’s concert should be prolonged throughout the season.

Hanns F Skoutajan - 27/09/2013

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The young Italian pianist Mauro Bertoli, now based in Ottawa, Canada, displays considerable hubris in leading off his recent solo CD with three well-known Scarlatti sonatas. If he felt he had something to say that Horowitz and Pogorelich hadn’t already said, he was right. These Scarlattis call upon his proficient technique and Italian finesse to bring out their excitement and subtleties. Bertoli is very much up to the task.

The CD (Mauro Bertoli label, ASIN: B00BRR3XT0) opens with the energetic E minor, L325, played with a feathery touch that however drives forward relentlessly. The Scarlatti themes emerge with miraculous fluidity. The next two tracks, L349 in G major and L430 in E major, maintain his high standard as the sonatas shift effortlessly from singing phrases to staccato statements, all minutely nuanced. Scarlatti’s flair for capturing the sheer joy of music is comfortable territory for Bertoli.

Equally impressive on this disc are 11 Schumann pieces, including the repertoire favorite Toccata Opus 7. He concludes with lively and accessible selections from Spanish composer/pianist Enrique Granados and lesser-known Argentine Alberto Ginastera

Young Italian pianist at ease with Scarlatti

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“Mauro Bertoli, the Italian pianist now resident in Ottawa, sat down in a studio for a few days and recorded three CD’s of solo piano music, mostly Schumann and Liszt, with glances back to Scarlatti and Mozart, and to more modern times with Shostakovich and Gershwin, Aarvo Part, Granados and Ginastera.

It’s all good, really good. Technically Bertoli’s playing is spot on. He has feeling for everything he plays, and his powers of expression seem unimpeded. I enjoyed the jazzy strength of his Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Bertoli’s Liszt is bright and surprisingly soft; he is sensitive to the changing, introspective textures of the Brahms Intermezzo Op.118, No.2.

It’s clear Bertoli loves sharing his pleasure in playing Schumann. Bertoli delights with Schumann’s early, festive, Papillons; impresses with the formidable Paganini Etudes; is moving with the middle period lament for his dead brother Nachstucke; and the Sonata for the Young is full of the dramatic passion of Schumann’s later period.

My favourite moments with Bertoli’s albums were discovering the music of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera. The bitonally coloured Danzas Argentinas Op.2 are gentle and wild, melodic and atonal, expansive as the pampas, and dense with criollo cacophonics. No wonder Emerson, Lake and Palmer borrowed from Ginastera.

Bertoli’s albums are music for all seasons: they offer a variety of musical charms that you can focus on and listen to, or use to elegantize the tone of a social gathering. Their titles are: Rhapsody in Blue and other piano works; From Mozart to Khachaturian; Piano Works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Granados, Ginastera.”

Stanley Fefferman reviews 3 CDs by solo pianist MAURO BERTOLI

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“In the world of classical music, Italy has long been known for producing famous singers and conductors. For some reason, though, the list of renowned Italian pianists is considerably shorter — Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Maurizio Pollini are among those who come to mind. However, with the release of three CDs on the Cavalli Musica label featuring a young artist by the name of Mauro Bertoli, that list should be immediately augmented! ….. It’s our good fortune that he has decided to settle in Canada…At the outset, these discs are impressive with their eclecticism. While certain pianists tend to concentrate on music of certain periods, or by particular composers, Bertoli’s repertoire is wide and encompassing, spanning 300 years of piano literature….. Bertoli may hail from the land of olive trees, but his convincing interpretation of this jazzy and syncopated music from 1924 has ”Manhattan” written all over it…... Written in 1937, this music dates from early in the composer’s career and is challenging from all perspectives. With their complex rhythms and chromatic harmonies, these dances might faze many pianists, but Bertoli handles the complexities with apparent ease, bringing the disc to a spirited conclusion…..Bravissimo, Mr. Bertoli — let’s hear from you again!”

Richard Haskell – The Whole Note Magazine

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“...dazzled by up-and-coming pianist....The Italian overcame what is probably the city's worst concert piano to dazzle a capacity crowd with absolutely flawless technique and deep musicality. We heard six difficult Etudes and Toccata by Schumann, a gorgeous late-Brahms Intermezzo and, the pièce de résistance, the Hungarian Rhapsody n.6 by Franz Liszt. Bertoli made it dance and sing with dazzling panache. Here is a newcomer to watch out for”

John Terauds – Toronto Star

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“I recommend the young and very gifted Italian pianist Mauro Bertoli...”.

Louis Lortie

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“I personally recommend very specially Mauro Bertoli, he is a gifted young pianist, very talented and an experienced pianist with a fine perception of music....”.

Philippe Entremont

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“Beethoven, as his material is meant to be played:…star performers Wolfgang David (violin) of Vienna, and Mauro Bertoli (piano), originally from Italy, though now maintaining a teaching post at Carleton University, performed a masterful concert of the Beethoven classics. Pianist Bertoli performed with supple sensitivity, giving full voice to his instrument as needed, but never quite releasing its massive power in a way that would dominate the violin. His soft passages had a way of being full and complete while staying wonderfully restrained in volume. In contrast, the up-tempo runs and arpeggios were remarkably distinct through blisteringly fast and furious passages….The pair interpreted the Allegro vivace with enthusiastic style and engagement…the highlight of this performance was Sonata No. 5 (“Spring”). The opening allegro combined the sunny sweetness of a refined though buoyant melody-gracefully tossed back-and-forth between performers-with mature conceptual development, mixing to a particularly satisfying whole. The adagio molto espressivo was similarly engaging, starting with the pure sumptuous melody, cleverly interweaving and overlapping instruments towards a fully inspired conclusion. The one-minute Scherzo has Beethoven thumbing his nose at convention with a jumpy morsel-interlude, while the final Rondo started with an air of Classical restraint, only to punch up the energy and emotion into high gear, bringing the concert to a fabulous close.”

Stephen Preece – The Record.com

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“Great and warm public acclamation and applause greeted Mauro Bertoli at the conclusion of his concert at the Beijing Concert Hall. The Brescian pianist has literally conquered the audience members with a brilliant recital….splendid execution of the Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118, no. 2 …. The public demonstrated its great appreciation for the Concert Allegro by Granados…. The entrancing interpretation of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 stirred up huge enthusiasm from those in the Hall”.

Giornale di Brescia

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“...he starts with Papillons by Schumann... rhythm and precision for the marches with stout octaves switching from right to left hand. Valzer and Dances are played with noble expression without overdoing dynamics, even when the harmony is harrowing. Bertoli in previous concerts already demonstrated his ability to avoid this usual defect of youth. His use of the right pedal was calibrated and clean, later reaching great tonal refinement. With melodic notes his phrasing is chivalric but also subtle, thanks to some anticipated basses that however don't happen every time...Rhythmic vigour continues with Nachtstucke by Schumann and an increase of dynamics brings out even more the forte and fortissimo in contrast with sweet lyricism. His performance seems not to allow even the smallest mistake....in the second sonata op.118 (by Schumann) … his fingers fly, the technique is solid but we already knew that....the program doesn't have the usual intermission and the audience members remain silent and concentrate on the music as well as the pianist on stage....Calm, elegant and self-confident - in one word, mature, even in his behaviour toward the audience.... Bertoli seems not to have any difficulties with the virtuoso Etudes by Schumann-Paganini....played with nimbleness, this tour de force earns Bertoli warm and long applause that stops only after 4 encores....the last encore is the 6th Hungarian Rhapsody by Liszt and the audience is wondering if the pianist will reach the end without dying. And when the last chord explodes and the victorious pianist stands up, the audience offers a standing ovation, clapping their hands and shouting “Bravo”....we can say that this is a “confirmation” concert for a musician 27 years old, who has the technique and the right sensitivity to play a very large part of the piano literature, offering it in a reliable way to the audience”

Carlo Bianchi – Brescia Musica

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“ Piano performance ends with fantastic rhapsody....Youth, energy, talent and superb musicianship – the final piano concert on Sunday by pianist Mauro Bertoli can only be described as incredible...Many elements of Bertoli’s playing struck this writer as memorable, but two especially so. The display of virtuosic playing was astounding, always controlled, clean and exciting. The true measure of a musician perhaps becomes most clear, however, in how slow, quiet passages are handled. Bertoli was superb... he richly deserved the kudos, standing ovation and curtain calls from the audience”

Steven Fielder – Barrie Examiner

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"...The biography does contain a 'personal recommendation' by veteran French pianist/conductor Philippe Entremont, which at least suggests that Bertoli is a pianist worth hearing - and so it turns out. Not only does he have the technique and panache to dazzle in Granados's lyrical note-spectacular, the Allegro de Concierto, Schumann's underrated Paganini Studies or the last of Ginastera's colourful Argentinean Dances, but also the poetry to move heart and soul in Brahms's Intermezzo in A or Pärt's simple, but startlingly poignant Für Alina, and to evoke the elegiac qualities of Liszt's E minor Hungarian Rhapsody. Bertoli is thankfully no Flash Harry: even in Liszt's quirkier, sometimes riotous D flat Rhapsody he eschews self-indulgence and gives the listener the composer rather than the performer - a far cry from certain other young pianists. He seems equally at home playing Scarlatti, Shostakovich or Schumann, although it is in the lattermost's delightful works that he seems to exude particular enjoyment, which the listener cannot help but share. The three recitals all follow a similar pattern: some attractive 19th century repertoire based around Schumann or Liszt, with various extensions forward into the 20th century and the odd foray back into the 1800s. The three discs blend a happy mix of lighter fare - the pieces by Mozart, Gershwin, Pärt, Scarlatti and Ginastera - with more red-blooded pianism from Liszt and Granados, whilst Schumann and Brahms cover the middle ground. The relatively rare Rhapsody in Blue in Gershwin's solo piano version - which plays down the gaudy 'Hollywoodness' of either of those for orchestra or even for piano duo - is a highlight of its disc: Bertoli is riveting...”

MusicWeb International.com

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“Talented Duo easily meets challenges....Zelenka and Bertoli created a beautiful musical tapestry and achieved great clarity in Brahms’ demanding sonata.....Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata op.19 challenges the artistic and technical ability of any performer, but they achieved the enthusiastic, almost ecstatic mood as together they wove the rhapsody into a powerfully emotional and ravishing finale”

Kenneth Inkster – Barrie Examiner

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“…he absolutely brought the house down”

Brockville Concert Association

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“His hands hovering over the keyboard, his fingers lightly skimming across the keys in a crescendo of music, it's like magic.....technical virtuosity and a deep musical sense....great performance by a young pianist.....it's always exciting to watch a highly intelligent musical execution, in Mauro Bertoli we have a young musician in full expressive development and in full esthetic control of the refined executive skill at his disposal...an extraordinary technique at the service of one's soul...”

Corriere Canadese

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“Mauro Bertoli, fantasmagorie con Schumann. Entusiasmante contributo all’integrale delle musiche pianistiche voluta dalla GIA....il solista e’ stato abilissimo nel creare all’inizio un tono sommesso e nostalgico, per poi evocare l’ebbrezza del ballo....Bertoli ha compreso molto bene l’interiorie drammaturgia schumanniana .... dopo aver dato prova di una spiccata maturita’ musicale il concertista si e’ catapultato in brani cosparsi di difficolta’ tecniche...”

Marco Bizzarrini – Giornale di Brescia

Links

THE INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE FOR PIANO ARTISTS

FONDAZIONE ROMANO ROMANINI

LUCIA LUQUE

NETANEL DRAIBLATE

PAUL MARLEYN

WINONA ZELENKA

CALM RADIO

OSCAR DEL BARBA

WOLFGANG DAVID

ASSOCIAZIONE MUSA

ELI & COCO

DANIELE ZINI

Contacts

I am an Associate Piano Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON.  If you would like to contact me to enquire about the possibility to study with me at the University, or at my private studio (also based in Ottawa), or if you simply want to contact me for any other reason, please write to:

mauro.bertoli@maurobertoli.com

For bookings you can contact me or:

Mrs. Kerry White, Personal Assistant
106 Valley Ridge Crescent, Waterloo, Ontario. CANADA N2T 1X2
Phone: 226-808-5432
E-mail: kerrydianewhite@gmail.com

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© 2014 - Mauro Bertoli | Credits