Mauro Cardi (born July 22, 1955, in Rome, Italy) is an Italian composer.
Biography Trained at the "Santa Cecilia" Conservatoire of Rome, under the guidance of Irma Ravinale, Gino Marinuzzi jr., Guido Turchi, he graduated in composition, instrumentation for wind orchestra and choral music."Cardi, Mauro", in AA.VV., Dizionario Enciclopedico della Musica e dei Musicisti, diretto da Alberto Basso, volume Appendice; Utet, Torino, 1990, , p.14 In 1982, he received his first international recognition, winning the "Valentino Bucchi Prize"Landa Ketoff, "Una voce per il canto del 900. Conclusa con un concerto la V edizione del premio Valentino Bucchi", La Repubblica, November 27, 1982E.M., "Ecco i vincitori del Premio Bucchi", L'Avanti, November 25, 1982 with Melos, for soprano and orchestra. Crucial was the encounter with Franco Donatoni, with which he furthered his education at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena."Cardi, Mauro", in AA.VV., Enciclopedia della Musica, diretta da Marco Drago e Andrea Boroli, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara, 1995, , p.184 In 1984, he attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. In the same year his composition Les Masques, Quattro Bagatelle for flute viola and guitar, was awarded the prestigious Gaudeamus Prize in Amsterdam."Amsterdam: Mauro Cardi vince il Gaudeamus 1984", in Rivista Musicale Italiana, n.4/Ottobre 1984, ERI-Edizioni RAIR.Hazendonk, "Mauro Cardi goede Gaudeamus winnaar", De Telegraaf, Amsterdam, October 7, 1984Hein Calis, Frits van der Waa, "Mauro Cardi wint met bescheiden compositie Gaudeamus-prijs", De Volkskrant, Amsterdam, October 7, 1984https://gaudeamus.nl/en/winners-of-the-gaudeamus-award/ URL Retrieved January 12, 2018 In 1987, he was selected to represent Italy at the International Rostrum of Composers by UNESCO. In 1988, he won the second prize at the International Competition Gian Francesco Malipiero with In Corde, for orchestra."I premi del G.F. Malipiero", Il Giornale della Musica, N.29, Giugno 1988 He composed also several works commissioned by institutions and associations such as: RAI, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Biennale di Venezia, Ravenna Festival, Ville de Genève, Fondazione Malipiero, Centro Studi Armando Gentilucci, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Nuova Consonanza.
While his early works have been influenced by Donatoni, to which he devoted also an extensive analytical study,Mauro Cardi, "Atono conforta grandi. Uno studio su Argot di Franco Donatoni e di alcune problematiche della composizione algoritmica" (in due parti), in Suono Sonda, Anno 4, N° 7, Febbraio 2009, Anno 4, N° 8, Novembre 2009, Joker, Genova 2009 Mauro Cardi soon developed his individual style,Mario Pagotto, "Recensione del CD "Manao Tupapau", CD Classica – Marzo 1999Mario Gamba, "I concetti sonori Modern", Il manifesto, Roma, December 6, 1993 focusing his research on "musical forms moulded by timbre and sound intuitions, with unexpectedly expressive moments"."Cardi, Mauro", in AA.VV., Enciclopedia della musica Garzanti, Milano, 1996, , p.141 His poetics reflects his natural aptitude to contrapuntal writing and his fascination with logic and the symbolic value of numbers, attracted to the playful dimension involved in composing.Marco Spada, "Compositori Oggi/Incontro con Mauro Cardi: Metto a fuoco le emozioni", l'Unità, Roma, March 17, 1990Ornella Rota, "L'alternanza di giochi e regole", in Suono, N° 370, Roma, Luglio-Agosto 2004, p.87Luca Conti, "Mauro Cardi: l'artigianato del comporre", in Idea, Anno XXVI, N.6–7, Roma, Giugno-Luglio 1990, pp.33–39
He composed two radio operas commissioned by RAI: in 1994 Temperatura esterna on a text by Michele Mari and, in 1996, La mia puntualità fu un capolavoro on a text by Marco Lodoli. In 1995, on a commission by the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, he composed his first opera, Nessuna Coincidenza, one-act stage action with music. In 1998 BMG Ricordi published the monographic CD Manao Tupupau, containing his major works of the 1990th. From 2000 to 2008, on a commission of the 52nd Biennale di Venezia, he composed Oggetto d'amore,Carla di Lena, "Liszt per banda e piano", in Il Giornale della Musica, n.287, dicembre 2011, p.6, a cycle of seven musical scenes on texts by Pasquale Panella, premiered in Venezia and published in CD format by RAI Trade in 2009, which concludes his long collaboration with Sonia BergamascoOlga D'Alì, "L'amore al tempo di Sonia: a Venezia la Bergamasco porta in scena l'opera sperimentale di Panella e Cardi", in D di Repubblica, October 4, 2008 and the Freon Ensemble. In 2019 Mauro Cardi returns to musical theater with Il Diario di Eva, a semi-scenic opera for dancer / actress, soprano and ensemble, on a text freely taken from the homonymous story by Mark Twain (GAMO International Festival, Certosa di Firenze) and in 2021 he composed, on a libretto by Guido Barbieri, the one-act and six chapters opera Le ossa di Cartesio, for actor, three singers and large ensemble, commissioned by Opera InCanto, performed in Terni and Rome for Nuova Consonanza.
Since the 1990s, he has been involved in electroacoustic and computer music, collaborating with the electroacoustic music centres Agon in Milan, Centro Ricerche Musicali in Rome, Istituto Gramma in L'Aquila. In 1995 was chosen by IRCAM"Cardi, Mauro", in AA.VV., Dizionario Enciclopedico della Musica e dei Musicisti, diretto da Alberto Basso, volume Appendice 2005; Utet, Torino, 2004, , p.105 for the international stage, in 1997 Manao Tupupao has been selected as a finalist at the 24th Electroacustique Music Competition of Bourges, and in 2009 Alba, for zarb and electronics, was chosen by the International Computer Music Conference of Belfast. In 2001, he joined the composers collective Edison Studio in Rome, one of the most active centres for production of electroacoustic music in Italy, with which he experimented a collective composing practice.Cipriani A., Cifariello Ciardi F., Ceccarelli L., Cardi M., "Collective composition: the case of Edison Studio", in Organised Sound, Cambridge University Press, 2004, 9, pp.261–270, Cardi M., Ceccarelli L., Cifariello Ciardi F., Cipriani A., "Nuove tecnologie e composizione collettiva per il cinema muto", in Close Up, Anno X, N°18, Marzo-Giugno 2006, Kaplan, Torino, 2006, , pp.81–102 In 2008, Edison Studio published its first DVD, resulting from the collaboration with the video makers Latini and Di Domenico. In the following years it realized the live soundtracks for the silent movies: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1913) by Eleuterio Rodolfi, Ricatto (Blackmail, 1929) by Alfred Hitchcock, Inferno (1911)http://cinestore.cinetecadibologna.it/bookshop/dettaglio/47/ URL Retrieved January 12, 2018 by Francesco Bertolini, Giuseppe de Liguoro e Adolfo Padovan (awarded the "Premio speciale AITS per il migliore suono anno 2011"‚http://www.aits.it/index.php?&lang=it§ion=edizioni-premio-aits&Anno=2011 URL consultato il January 12, 2018 by the Associazione Italiana Tecnici del Suono), Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligarihttp://cinestore.cinetecadibologna.it/bookshop/dettaglio/105 URL consultato il January 12, 2018David Kim-Boyle – recensione della prima esecuzione di "Das Cabinet des Dr.Caligari" all'ICMC di Singapore, in Computer Music Journal, volume 28, N°2 Summer 2004 – MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (1919) by Robert Wiene. In 2011 and 2016 these two soundtracks have been published on DVD in 5.1 surround version by the Cineteca di Bologna in the "Il Cinema ritrovato" series. A study has been published on Edison Studio's works: "Il silent film e l'elettronica in relazione intermediale", edited by Marco Maria Gazzano.Marco Maria Gazzano (a cura di), Edison Studio. Il Silent Film e l'Elettronica in Relazione Intermediale, Roma, Exorma, 2014, . With Edison Studio, Mauro Cardi participated in the International Computer Music Conference 2002 (Gothenburg) and 2003 (Singapore).
Since 2021 Mauro Cardi has been on the executive committee of Nuova Consonanza from 1988,Daniela Tortora, Nuova Consonanza – Trent'anni di musica contemporanea in Italia (1959–1988), Libreria Musicale Italiana, Lucca, 1990, , of which he has been President from 1999 to 2001. Founding member of the "Scuola popolare di musica di Testaccio" (Rome), he has taught Composition at the Conservatories of L'Aquila and Florence and from 2021 at the Conservatory “Santa Cecilia” in Rome. He gives seminars and composition workshops in Italy and abroad.
Mauro Cardi's compositions have been published by: Casa Ricordi, RAI Trade, Curci, Edipan, Ut Orpheus, Semar, Sconfinarte, Taukay; and have been recorded by the labels: Ricordi, RCA, BMG Ariola, Nuova Fonit Cetra, RAI Trade, Edipan, Adda Records, Happy New Ears, Il manifesto, CNI, Taukay.
Works Musical theatre and movies 2021 Le ossa di Cartesio, for actor, three singers and large ensemble, libretto by Giulio Barbieri 2019 Il Diario di Eva, for female dancer/actress, soprano and ensemble, libretto by composer and Cristina Papi, based on Mark Twain's story of the same name 2014 En dirigeable sur le champs de bataille, live computer soundtrack for the BBC's documentary of the same name, with Edison Studio 2013 Blackmail, live computer soundtrack for the 1929 movie of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, with Edison Studio 2008 Oggetto d'amore, for female voice, ensemble, video and electronics, on texts by Pasquale Panella 2008 Inferno, live computer soundtrack for the movie of the same name by F.Bertolini, G.De Liguoro e A.Padovano, with Edison Studio 2008 Medea incontra Norma, based loosely on Medea of Luigi Cherubini and Norma of Vincenzo Bellini, with Luigi Ceccarelli, ideazione e regia di Cristina Mazzavillani Muti 2004 Trash, "musicalopera" for actors, singers and electronics, on texts by Francesca Angeli, music co-author: Roberta Vacca 2003 Das cabinet des Dr.Caligari, live computer soundtrack for the movie of the same name by, with Edison Studio 2001 Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei, live computer soundtrack pfor the movie of the same name by, with Edison Studio 2000 C'era una volta... la principessa dispettosa, on text by Nicoletta Costa, for narrator and electronics, music co-authors: Maria Cristina De Amicis, Michelangelo Lupone, Alessandro Sbordoni, Roberta Vacca 1995 Nessuna Coincidenza, one-act stage action with music, for 2 sopranos, tenore/narrator, actor, ensemble, tape and live electronics
Radio dramas 1996 La mia puntualità fu un capolavoro, 20 radiofilm, for 2 narrators and tape, on texts by Marco Lodoli 1994 Temperatura esterna, for narrator, flutes, percussions, MIDI and electronics, on texts by Michele Mari
Orchestra 2019 Sinfonia (après Haydn 104), for orchestra 2008 Stanza 19, for narrator and orchestra, on texts by Jorge Luis Borges 2001 Hallelujah, for soli, choir and orchestra 2000 Timordime, for narrator and orchestra, on texts by Pier Paolo Pasolini 1999 Spleen, for piano and orchestra 1997 Lisbon revisited, for narrator and orchestra, on texts by Fernando Pessoa 1989 Arcipelaghi, for orchestra 1983–85 In corde, for orchestra 1982 Melos, for soprano and orchestra
Wind orchestra 2011 Parafrasi L (après Liszt), for piano and symphonic band 2004 Eikon, for large wind orchestra and electronics 1995 A Poison Pen, for electric guitar, soli and wind orchestra
Chamber music 2020 Toy (Piano) Stories, Games #4, for Toy Piano and obbligato flute 2019 Quanto pesa una lacrima?, for female voice, violin, guitar, double bass and percussion, on "A inventare i numer" from "Favole al telefono" by Gianni Rodari 2018 Miroir, for six percussionists and two marimbas 2018 Arethusa, for narrator, soprano and ensemble, on texts by Ovid 2017 R.Bow, for two electric guitar and bass guitar 2017 La Follia, for viola (and viola d'amore) and string orchestra 2017 Berceuse, for flute, guitar, viola and cello 2016 QO, Games #2, for piccolo quartet 2016 ES, for flute and piano 2015 Stelutis, for ensemble of 15 instruments