Biography
Aniello Desiderio, born in Naples in 1971, began playing guitar at a very young age. He studied with B. B. D’Amario and Stefano Aruta and attended interpretation classes with Leo Brouwer, who selected him for special group lessons. In 1992 he graduated with honours from the Conservatory of Music in Alessandria.
At the age of eight he performed publicly for the first time, demonstrating exceptional talent that led critics to describe him as a prodigy, a Wunderkind, and one of the great guitarists of his generation.
Awards
He won 18 first international prizes in national and international competitions, including:
- First Prize, Donia Competition, Messina (1986)
- First Prize and Special Prize for South American music, International Guitar Competition, Habana (1988)
- “Neapolitan of the Year” Award (1988)
- First Prize and Special Prize for Tárrega interpretation, International Francisco Tárrega Competition, Benicasim (1992)
- First Prize, International Competition Città di Sanremo (1994)
- First Prize, International “Guerrero” Competition, Madrid (1995)
- Artist in Residence Award, German Radio and Musikfest Bremen (1999)
International Career
His international career began in 1989 at the International Guitar Festival in Volos. Since then he has performed worldwide as a soloist and with orchestras such as the Virtuosi di Mosca with Vladimir Spivakov, the RSO Berlin, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti. He has toured extensively in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Performances
He has appeared at major festivals and in leading concert halls, including Radio France, the Ravello Festival, Berlin Philharmonie, Rheingau Musik Festival, Musikfest Bremen, Alte Oper Köln, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Philharmonie München, Prinzregententheater München and Die Glocke Bremen. In 1996 he made his New York debut at the Manhattan School of Music.
Media
In 1999 German Television produced a documentary film and a portrait of Aniello Desiderio in Naples. The productions were broadcast throughout Europe between 2000 and 2003. In 1999 he received the Artist in Residence Award from German Radio DLF and the Musikfest Bremen.
Tours and Projects
From 2001 to 2002 he toured with the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and appeared at the 70th birthday Gala of Lorin Maazel. He performed widely in Mexico, Indonesia and Europe.
In 2003 he co-founded the World Guitar Ensemble and toured Europe, the United States and Brazil. In 2004 he founded the group Passione Napoletana with his brothers Gennaro and Gaetano Desiderio and other Neapolitan musicians. He appeared on a Europe-wide television broadcast on ZDF.
In 2005 he toured Europe and the United States with the World Guitar Ensemble and performed projects such as “Tango con Passion” with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra and Romulo Larrea as well as concerts with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra.
In 2007 he performed in the tango project “Tango y Milongas” with Gennaro and Nino Desiderio, Romulo Larrea and singer Veronica Larc.
Recordings and Teaching
He has recorded for Frame, Waku Music, Koch-Universal and since 2006 for his own label Adoro Records. In 2005 he joined the faculty of the International Music Academy of Koblenz and in 2009 began teaching at the Conservatorio Domenico Cimarosa in Avellino, developing a postgraduate programme.
Recent Projects
In 2009 he founded “Aniello Desiderio’s Quartetto Furioso” with Gennaro Desiderio, Gaetano Desiderio and Salvatore Minale, performing Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons and recording a CD for Termidor. In 2010 he performed Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concerto Madrigal” with Angel Romero.
Since 2010 he has given masterclasses at the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum and performed the European premiere of John McLaughlin’s concerto “Thieves and Poets” in 2012. He appears regularly as a duo with Lucio Matarazzo.
Critical Reception
- “Nothing is impossible for Aniello with his instrument.” – Classical Guitar
- “He is very young, but he plays like an angel.” – Les Cahiers de la Guitare
- “Aniello grande triunfadore.” – Gramma Cuba
- “The most brilliant talent of the decade.” – Süddeutsche Zeitung
