Semibreve commissioned pianist Giovanni Di Domenico to create a new piece for the Semirebeve 2024 festival edition. The piece entitled Nachleben is a radiant work for solo piano.

Some of Giovanni Di Domenico’s biographies mention the fact that he is a self-taught pianist. This could be a minor detail in a career so vast that such information tends to fade into the background. But it could just as well be the formative building block that has turned everything upside down and given the Italian — and for many years now also Belgian — artist unparalleled creative gymnastics that abide by no rules. Whether solo or in collaboration with others, in jazz or outside it, or when composing for ensembles, Di Domenico’s inexhaustible discography is a journey of absolute enchantment.

If we were to try to identify one of the reasons for this enchantment, it might be because of his minimalist, circular and repetitive language, which often seems to support the whole architecture of his music. And out of this seemingly closed labyrinth comes a sound of a hypnotic and exhilarating freedom, like happiness blossoming in the most unexpected of places. This edition of Semibreve promises an even greater jubilation, with the world premiere of Giovanni Di Domenico’s radiant new solo piece “Nachleben”.

Photo: Adriano Ferreira Borges / Semibreve 2024