Massimiliano
Génot lives in Turin, where he gained his piano diploma at the age
of sixteen, obtaining the highest possible grade at the city’s Giuseppe
Verdi Conservatoire under Gianni Sartorio. Althoughcontinuing
to specialise in the piano, he also took a diploma in composition under
the tuition of Gilberto Bosco and Riccardo Piacentini and concluded his
classical studies, again with maximum grades. After being awarded the
Diploma di Eccellenza upon completing a first specialisation course with
Aldo Ciccolini at the Lorenzo Perosi Academy in Biella, he was admitted
to the Higher Conservatoire in Geneva, where he continued his
studies under Maria Tipo and gained the Premier Prix de Virtuosité,
with a distinction. After obtaining the Diploma di Concertismo at the Santa
Cecilia Music Foundation in Portogruaro with Piero Rattalino, he completed
his training by following master classes at the Imola Academy, in particular
the piano courses of Lazar Berman and those in
performance history and theory under Piero Rattalino, with whom he also
began researches into the historical development of piano technique. These
studies led to the first ever recording of Carl Czerny’s School
of Velocity op. 299 using the original metronome markings, paired with the
Etudes op. 6 by Franz Liszt (Phoenix Classics). The CD was warmly received
by the critics, winning several prizes and awards. Génot has
gained prizes in numerous Italian and international competitions, including
the 1994 Ferruccio Busoni Competition in Bolzano, and is engaged on a busy
performing schedule in Italy and abroad. He has given concert performances
at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Settembre Musica festival and the
Teatro Regio in Turin, the Sagra musicale
Malatestiana in Rimini, Mittelfest in Cividale del Friuli, the Teatro della
Fenice in Venice, the Musikhalle in Hamburg, the Konzertsaal in Freiburg,
the Chopin Museum in Warsaw and the Krakow Academy of Music, the Academy
of Music in Montenegro, the Bocconi University in Milan, Macerata University,
Turin Polytechnic, the Scuola Normale in Pisa, the Academy of France at
the Villa Medici in Rome, the Oficina de Música de Curitiba workshop
in Brazil, the University of Coimbra, etc. He has also played with the National
Symphony Orchestra of the Italian State
broadcaster RAI, the “Arturo Toscanini” Symphony Orchestra of
Parma, the Orchestra of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Festival of Bergamo
and Brescia, etc. Since 1995 Génot has been closely involved with
the research work of pianist and restorer Flavio Ponzi into the modern performing
potential of original instruments from the Romantic period. The two musicians
played Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Teatro Comunale in
Bologna, using instruments which belonged to the composer himself, and a
programme of Romantic transcriptions at the
Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, on historic instruments by Erard and Pleyel.
In 1999 Génot performed his transcription of Das Rheingold at the
Richard Wagner Association of Venice, which awarded him a study grant to
enable him to attend the Bayreuth Festival. He is also active in the lieder
and opera repertoire, accompanying the soprano Anja Kampe, and plays in
a duo and various chamber formations with his sister Alessandra, a violinist,
with whom he recorded a CD for the Pietro Accorsi Foundation of Turin, playing
on an Erard fortepiano from 1818.
Massimiliano
Genot