Andrea Viscardi is an absolutely phenomenal pianist, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers of modern classical. I had the privilege of premiering his track “A Day At The Castle” back in April, and I have been enamored by the rich and textured piano pieces he wrote for that EP since its release. If you are unfamiliar with Viscardi, he is a prestigious multi-instrumentalist who has trained at some of the biggest music schools worldwide. He has been working with a lot of the biggest names in electronic music, collaborating on a lot of large releases of late. The year 2020 brought him back to focus on contemporary classical composition, however, and I think we are all benefiting greatly from this.
Viscardi is of the opinion that there is a very close relationship between art and nature, and that without nature, art wouldn’t exist. His new Prelude EP is written with this intention and thought in mind, and the visualizer for the first single, also titled “Prelude”, is very evocative of the changing seasons to me. The video is a kaleidoscope of whirling colors, meshing and intersecting in a tantalizing pattern while the keystrokes of Viscardi whisk you away to a faraway land. The way that greens give way to orange and red, then to blue and purple, and back around remind me of the different color palettes of the seasons. I am thankful to live in an area where we experience all four seasons in their full, vibrant glory, and the burst of hues takes me through the full year. The music itself is as gorgeous as ever, with a glorious production allowing you to fully absorb every individual note and pedal. The playing is resolute and splendid, with no hesitation to deliver lush scales and note sequences that may take your breath away.
“Prelude” is the first track to Viscardi’s second EP this year, which will release in full on November 26. It is a wonderful, albeit short piece at just over two minutes in runtime. I am curious to see how long the accompanying tracks are, and I’m very excited to already have more of his music to dive into and get lost in. The production quality is absolutely insane, and with a good pair of headphones, it blew my mind how much breathability this piece had with such quick playing. It’s done in an eloquent manner, never being too much. At around the middle mark it really picks up in intensity and speed for a brief moment, but Viscardi slows it back down to the perfect pace promptly. I will certainly be revisiting this piece, and I hope you feel the same way!
You can follow Andrea Viscardi on Twitter and Instagram if you want. He doesn’t post often, but he is definitely worth a follow for when he inevitably gifts us even more new music.
