|
The Italian pianist and pedagogue, Maria (Luisa) Tipo, gave her first public piano performance at the age of four. Her teacher was her mother, Ersilia Cavallo, herself a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni. She later received master-classes from Alfredo Casella and Guido Agosti. In 1948 she won 2nd prize (no 1st prize was given) at the Geneva International Competition, and returned in 1949 (age 17) to capture its 1st prize. In 1952 she won 3rd prize at the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in Brussels.
Maria Tipo's success led rapidly to invitations to all the major musical centers in Europe as well as in the USA, Central and South America, Africa, U.R.S.S., Japan and the Middle East. She made her New York debut in 1955. After an absence of 32 years, she returned to New York in 1991 as a recitalist at the Metropolitan Musem of Art. She performed whith the greatest orchestra in the world, among which the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Sympony Orchestra, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sympony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Salzburg Mozarteum, La Scala in Milan, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), RAI Milan-Turin-Rome, Florence May, English Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, etc. Chamber music is also one of her interests, and she performed with such artists as the Amadeus Quartet, Quartetto di Fiesole, Salvatore Accardo and Uto Ughi.
Maria Tipo also recorded extensively. The first recording for Ricordi label, 12 Scarlatti Sonatas, was hailed by Newsweek as “the most spectacular record of the year”. Her recording of piano sonatas by Clementi for Fonit Cetra is now a collector’s item. Later she recorded exclusively for EMI. Her recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) and Eighten Scarlatti Sonatas both won the Diapason d'Or.
In addition to her career as a concert pianist, Maria Tipo was a dedicaded teacher. She was a professor at the Conservatories of Bolzano, Florence and Geneva, and taught students from all over the world. She was frequently invited to judge major International Competitions. She held the Cours de Perfectionnement et Virtuosité in Geneva and taught masters-classes at the Gubbio Festival and at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.
Maria Tipo was awarded the following prizes: Saint-Vincent Long Playing 1979, First Prize Musical Critics 1985, Maschera d’Argento, Apollo Musagete, Gargano Awards, Gino Tani Awards, Ernest Hemingway Awards, Quadrivio Awards, Firenze-Europa Awards, Le Muse Awards, Personality of the year Awards. She was nominated Academy of S.Cecilia in Rome, and Officier des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and received the Fiorino D’Oro in Florence.
Maria Tipo championed the cause of traditional Italian keyboard music. |
