Benedetto Lupo

Piano

  • Hailed by international critics as one of the most superb and interesting talents of his generation, Benedetto Lupo gained worldwide recognition in 1989 after winning – as the first Italian – the bronze medal in the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

    His success immediately led to critically acclaimed debuts with several major American and European orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, London Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, Orquesta Nacional de España, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, and Bergen Philharmonic. He has established special collaborations with leading conductors including Yves Abel, Ed Gardner, Gian Carlo Guerrero, Vladimir Jurowski, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Bernard Labadie, Louis Langrée, Marko Letonja, Nicholas McGegan, Juanjo Mena, Kent Nagano and Xian Zhang, among others.

    Benedetto Lupo’s performance with the London Philharmonic was highly acclaimed and his performance of the Ravel left-hand Concerto was called “the stand out performance of the evening” (Bachtrack). Extremely keen on French music, Benedetto Lupo recently celebrated Claude Debussy’s (1862-1918) one hundred years after his death with a series of all-Debussy concerts in Europe and North America. Le Devoir in Montreal said, “Lupo’s Debussy recital was an absolutely exceptional experience, both musical and sensuous,” while the Washington Post said, “Lupo has two key attributes shared by outstanding Debussy interpreters: a seemingly infinite variety of touch and dynamics and a full to overflowing imagination. These, coupled with an infallible Italian instinct for the perfectly balanced singing line, are what make Lupo’s Debussy both authoritative and compelling […] Lupo’s interpretations, free of anything predictable or routine, are entirely his own, thoughtful and fresh. Throughout, the audience listened in that rapt silence reserved for the best music-making.”

    In his busy concert schedule Benedetto Lupo is a regular guest in major concert halls all over the world, including Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Bruxelles Palais des Beaux Arts, and the Salle Pleyel in Paris and in prominent festivals such as the Tanglewood Festival, the Istanbul International Festival, the Enescu Festival, and the Tivoli Festival in Copenaghen.

    In his native Italy he has played with every major orchestra, including the Academy of Santa Cecilia Symphony in Rome, the RAI National Symphony in Turin and the Maggio Musicale in Florence, as well as in all major concert venues including La Scala in Milan, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the San Carlo in Naples, and La Fenice in Venice.

    Benedetto Lupo’s recordings include an acclaimed version of Nino Rota’s Concerto Soirée on Harmonia Mundi which received several prizes, including the Diapason d’Or. Rota mentored Lupo, following him closely during his early training at the Piccinni Conservatory in Bari. Along with Peter Maag and the OSI Orchestra, Benedetto Lupo recorded the complete Schumann piano works with orchestra for ARTS label.

    Benedetto Lupo is the head of piano master courses at the world-renowned National Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, where in 2015 he was designated “Active Academician of Santa Cecilia”. He has won numerous other international competitions and awards, including the Terence Judd Award in London, and gives master classes worldwide for prestigious institutions.

  • February 28, 2023: Benedetto Lupo opens the new season of the ICO 'Suoni del Sud'
    - Foggia Today

    March 25, 2022: Benedetto Lupo Teams with Conductor Bernard Labadie for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23
    - Dallas Morning News

    April 1, 2015: Benedetto Lupo Appears On Album ‘Fratres’ with Les Violons de Roy
    - Spotify

  • NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S MOZART: BERNARD LABADIE LEADS DALLAS SYMPHONY IN LIVELY ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
    “Lupo played expressively, nudging the music ahead or lingering at the ends of lines. He also listened carefully to the orchestra, receding into the textures when his colleagues had more important material.”
    - Tim Diovanni, The Dallas Morning News

    PIANIST LUPO CELEBRATES DEBUSSY WITH THOUGHTFUL PERFORMANCE
    “Lupo has two key attributes shared by outstanding Debussy interpreters: a seemingly infinite variety of touch and dynamics and a full to overflowing imagination…Lupo’s interpretations, free of anything predictable or routine, are entirely his own, thoughtful and fresh. Throughout, the audience listened in that rapt silence reserved for the best music-making.”
    – Patrick Rucker, The Washington Post

    LPO/MENA AT THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
    “The subtlest tones came in the spellbinding nocturnal textures launching part two, though before The Rite our ears had already been tickled by the verdant colours in Debussy’s Printemps and the elegantly pungent kaleidoscope of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Benedetto Lupo was the muscular soloist — his right hand gripped the piano stool, determined not to interfere.”
    – Geoff Brown, The Times

    «JOURNÉES DEBUSSY»: LUPO ET LA VOÛTE ÉTOILÉE
    “Benedetto Lupo went to raise the bar to a height where it was not expected…Everything was supreme.”
    – Christophe Huss, Le Devoir

    TSO OFFERS FULL MOZART MEAL DEAL
    “The main course consisted of the Piano Concerto No. 23, performed at breakneck speed by pianist Benedetto Lupo, with Matthew Halls conducting. It began with a very clean, almost dainty first movement and led towards the Menuetto, which was played with a tenderness that made it seem as if Wolfgang himself was sitting at the piano.”
    – Michael Vincent, Toronto Star

    CLASSY MUSIC-MAKING FROM JUANJO MENA, BENEDETTO LUPO, BALTIMORE SYMPHONY
    “The soloist was the excellent Benedetto Lupo, making his BSO debut. It has been a long while since I heard the Italian pianist, who took the bronze at the 1989 Van Cliburn Competition.

    “The qualities I admired back in the 1990s were very much in evidence Friday — unfailing beauty of tone matched with solid technique and refined musicality.”
    – Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun

  • Orchestral Repertoire

    J.S. Bach
    Concerto in d minor BWV 1052
    Double Concerto in c minor BWV 1060 (2nd piano)

    Bartok
    Concerto No. 2 in G Major
    Concerto No. 3 in E Major

    Beethoven
    Concerto No. 1 op. 15 in C Major
    Concerto No. 2 op. 19 in B-flat Major
    Concerto No. 3 op. 37 in c minor
    Concerto No. 4 op. 58 in G Major
    Concerto No. 5 op. 73 in E-flat Major “Emperor”
    Rondo in B-flat Major WoO 6
    Choral Fantasy op. 80
    Triple Concerto op. 56 in C Major

    Brahms
    Concerto No. 1 op. 15 in d minor
    Concerto No. 2 op. 83 in B-flat Major

    Casella
    Partita op. 41
    Scarlattiana op. 44

    Chopin
    Concerto No. 1 op. 11 in e minor
    Concerto No. 2 op. 21 in f minor

    Dallapiccola
    Piccolo Concerto per Muriel Couvreux

    Dvorak
    Concerto op. 33 in g minor (original version)

    Fauré
    Ballade op.19 in F-sharp Major

    Franck
    Les Djinns
    Variations Symphoniques

    Gershwin
    Concerto in F

    Grieg
    Concerto in a minor

    Liszt
    Concerto no. 1 in E-flat Major Totentanz

    Mendelssohn
    Concerto No. 1 in g minor

    Mozart
    Concerto No. 3 KV 40 in D Major
    Concerto No. 9 KV 271 in E-flat Major
    Concerto No. 17 KV 453 in G Major
    Concerto No. 18 KV 456 in B-flat Major
    Concerto No. 19 KV 459 in F Major
    Concerto No. 20 KV 466 in d minor
    Concerto No. 21 KV 467 in C Major
    Concerto No. 23 KV 488 in A Major
    Concerto No. 24 KV 491 in c minor
    Concerto No. 25 KV 503 in C Major
    Concerto No. 27 KV 595 in B-flat Major
    Concert Rondo KV 382 in D Major
    Concerto for 2 pianos KV 365 in E-flat Major (2nd piano)
    Concert Aria KV 505 “Ch’io mi scordi di te? … Non temer mio amato bene”
    (piano obbligato)

    Paisiello
    Concerto No. 5 in D Major
    Concerto No. 7 in A Major

    Pärt
    Credo für klavier, gemischten chor und orchester (1968)

    Pilati
    Suite for Piano and String Orchestra

    Poulenc
    Concerto for 2 pianos (2nd piano)

    Prokofiev
    Concerto No. 1 op.10 in D-flat Major

    Rachmaninov
    Concerto No. 1 op. 1 in f-sharp minor (revised version, 1917)
    Concerto No. 2 op.18 in c minor
    Concerto No. 3 op. 30 in d minor
    Concerto No. 4 op. 40 in g minor (revised version, 1941)
    Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini Op. 43 in a minor

    Ravel
    Concerto in G
    Concerto for the Left Hand

    Rota
    Concerto Soirée
    Concerto in mi “Piccolo Mondo Antico”

    Salieri
    Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Major Concerto No. 2 in C Major

    Schumann
    Concerto op. 54 in a minor
    Konzertstück op. 86 in F Major (piano version made by the composer)
    Introduction and Allegro appassionato op. 92 in G Major
    Concert Allegro with Introduction op. 134 in d minor

    Scriabin
    Concerto op. 20 in f-sharp minor

    Shostakovich
    Concerto No. 1 op. 35 for piano, trumpet and string orchestra

    Strauss
    Burleske in d minor

    Stravinsky
    Capriccio

    Tchaikovsky
    Concert Fantasy op. 56 in G Major

    Weber
    Konzertstück op. 79 in f minor
    Capriccio

    *Updated August 2022