Angelo Villani, Piano

Born in Australia to Italian parents, Angelo Villani attended Melbourne’s school for musically-gifted children.  As a teenager, Angelo performed major works including the Rachmaninoff 2nd and Tchaikovsky 1st piano concertos and in 1990, was accepted as a contestant at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.  But disaster struck shortly after his arrival in Russia when a sudden crippling nerve complaint in his right hand stopped his participation and halted his promising career.  In 1991 he resettled in London, where his 20-year recovery, involving exhaustive consultations and experiments (e.g. talcum powder on the piano keys) allowed him to rehabilitate and reshape his technique.  Angelo now wears cotton gloves whilst playing, to prevent “over gripping”.

Since he re-launched his career, Angelo has performed at festivals and concert worldwide (including Japan, Spain, Denmark, Romania, Austria, the UK and Italy) where his luminous pianism been greeted with rapturous enthusiasm.  The release of his debut album, Angelo Villani plays Dante’s Inferno, garnered considerable praise and earned 5-star reviews in International Piano, The Independent, and a ‘Tokusen’ (specially recommended recording) in The Record Geijutsu.  His performance on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune programme led a captivated Sean Rafferty to declare: “Who needs an orchestra when you have Angelo Villani?”  Angelo’s wide repertoire is centred on, but not exclusive to, the composers of the late Romantic era.