SOLLIMA Giovanni
Caravaggio

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Born in Palermo into a family of musicians, Giovanni Sollima studied cello and composition.
Sollima performed in prestigious places, but also in alternative venues: Carnegie Hall, BAM, Alice Tully Hall, Knitting Factory in New York, Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Musicgebouw in Amsterdam, and son on.
As composer, Sollima has been captivated by every kind of languages and has thought to create new blends among the most diverse genres by combining elements of classical and rock music, as well as of music of all the Mediterranean area.
This work takes the tiny Flemish fragments of music reproduced in some of Caravaggio's paintings inspired by the painter's works as well as by his violent and controversial life. Sollima had a tenor violin specially reconstructed for the piece by the violin-maker Walter Cangialosi. This instrument, which has practically disappeared, is shown in some of the artist's paintings.


Born in Palermo into a family of musicians, Giovanni Sollima studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and Antonio Janigro and composition with his father Eliodoro Sollima and Milko Kelemen. He began an international career as cellist, collaborating among others with Claudio Abbado, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Jörg Demus, Martha Argerich, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Bruno Canino, DJ Scanner, Victoria Mullova, Riccardo Muti, Ruggero Raimondi, Patti Smith, Philip Glass and Yo-Yo Ma. Sollima performed in prestigious places, but also in alternative venues: Carnegie Hall, BAM, Alice Tully Hall, Knitting Factory in New York, Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Musicgebouw in Amsterdam, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Kunstfest in Weimar, La Scala in Milan, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Festivals of Kronberg, Kuopio, Istanbul, Tokyo, Venice, Ravenna, Spoleto, Shanghai (Expo 2010). As composer, Sollima has been captivated by every kind of languages and has thought to create new blends among the most diverse genres by combining elements of classical and rock music, as well as of music of all the Mediterranean area. He composes for acoustic and electric instruments, and others invented by himself or created for him. Besides he composed music for directors and choreographers, such as Peter Greenaway, Bob Wilson, Peter Stein, John Turturro, Karole Armitage and Carolyn Carlson. With the videographer Lasse Gjertsen he realized Daydream.

Commissioned by the Balletto Teatro di Torino, this work takes the tiny Flemish fragments of music reproduced in some of Caravaggio's paintings as the starting-point for a musical commentary on Matteo Levaggi's choreography, inspired by the painter's works as well as by his violent and controversial life. Following the world première at the Festival Internazionale del Balletto di Genova on 20 July 2004, the Turin company that commissioned it has continued to perform the ballet in major dance seasons in Italy and abroad. Sollima had a tenor violin specially reconstructed for the piece by the violin-maker Walter Cangialosi. This instrument, which has practically disappeared, is shown in some of the artist's paintings.