“One of the finest young concert pianists I know. He has superb technical command, exceptionally fine taste in his interpretations, impressive maturity”. These where the words of Gyorgy Sandor after awarding Domenico Codispoti with the 1st Prize at the Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition (member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions) in Zaragoza, Spain, which marked the beginning of his international career.
Hailed by critics worldwide as “a fully mature virtuoso in the highest meaning of the word” (Morgunbladid, Reykjavik), “one of the most elegant and musical artists of his generation” (Diario de Jaén), “a skilled storyteller, always imaginative and inventive” (flyinginkpot.com), Italian pianist Domenico Codispoti is also winner of Ferrol International Piano Competition, Premio Jaén (WFIMC), and several other international piano contests in his native Italy.
His concerto appearances include performances with Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, Warsaw Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, and Iceland Symphony Orchestra among others, under conductors such as Rumon Gamba, Kirill Karabits, Tomas Koutnik, Andrzej Straszynsky and Christopher Warren-Green. His international recital activity has brought him to major venues in Europe, America and Asia, with performances featured on Italian RAI, Spanish National Radio and Television, Icelandic National Radio, and several US networks.
Domenico has recorded for Dynamic (Rachmaninov) and Cable Musical (Schumann, Chopin). Reviewing his most recent CD with Odradek Records (Liszt, Granados), International Piano Magazine called Domenico “a distinguished performer with a formidable technique”, adding that “his account of Liszt’s Sonata is gripping from start to finish, measured in tempo but with a palpable understanding of the overall structure and relish of the work’s bigger moments. The benchmarks lie with Argerich, Arrau, Brendel, Pollini, Richter and, of more recent recordings, Paul Lewis. Codispoti may not surpass those, but he nestles in close behind them and his supporting programme will appeal to many”. Of the same CD, US magazine Clavier Companion said: “Domenico Codispoti is a sophisticated and poetic pianist who gives imaginative and refined performances of Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, the Petrarch Sonnets, and Granados's El Amor y la Muerte. Codispoti consistently produces a beautiful singing tone, with every note carefully weighted and voiced... the playing is wholly convincing throughout. Codispoti's conception of the sonata is enormous and majestic; the three sonnets... exhibit an exquisite lyricism. The Granados ballade... is given a thoroughly polished and thoughtful performance”.
Domenico Codispoti was born in Catanzaro, southern Italy, in 1975. Following his studies with Bruno Mezzena at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese in his home country, he moved to the United States, where he completed the Artist Diploma at the Southern Methodist University of Dallas under Joaquin Achucarro. Since then he has resided in London and Granada before returning to Italy. He currently teaches piano at the Conservatorio “Lorenzo Perosi” in Campobasso and lives in Rome.