Kevin Kastning is the new artist at onclassical.com: guitarist, composer and instruments inventor, he is obtaining large consensus in America for his innovative music and recordings. His four last publications (2006-2009) have been recently included in our catalog: these albums are artistically relevant, curious, and impeccable at a sound level. The art of Kevin Kastning and of musicians Szabó and Siegfried, who flanked him, is innovative, courageous, hypnotic. We directly speak with the artist in a long interview that Alessandro Simonetto, founder of OnClassical, prepared for the OC blog.

A.S. Your music is a sort of improvisation that becomes composition in the act of performing it. We know this is a very original style of composition and performance at the same time. What are the influences of your artistic language? How do your thoughts and your own musical artistic processes impact these compositions?

K.K. Wow, that is a good question. I don’t know if I could list all my artistic influences, as I am sure there are some which are there, but unconscious and unknown to me. A few composers that come to mind are Bartok, Elliott Carter, Gesualdo, Tallis, Beethoven’s middle and late period string quartets, Ockeghem, the second Viennese school, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Bach, Byrd, Josquin, Praetorius, and even going back as far as Machaut. Bartok’s string quartets had a deep and tremendously profound impact on me; both artistically and even spiritually. I also suspect that I have been impacted by artists from the French post-impressionist and the abstract expressionist periods; as well as authors such as Joyce, Proust, and Eliot. Sometimes I think I have a tendency to translate the visual into the audible.

New OnClassical featured Artist: Kevin Kastning.

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Good listening!

We are pleased to present two new albums: a Piano Recital by Gianluca Luisi, and a Chopin number by pianist Roberto Poli. The first, Recital, is actually the oldest recording Gianluca Luisi made with Alessandro Simonetto exclusively for OnClassical in 2005, in what is a profitable collaboration.

Notable are some virtuoso performances of music by Domenico Scarlatti (an impressive, fast and naturally played Sonata in d minor amongst others) and the IV French Suite by Johann Sebastian Bach in a very brilliant version. No editing on these pieces!

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Recital also contains a few Paraphrases by Liszt (on Verdi's Rigoletto), Hummel (on Mozart's Figaro) and Busoni (a Transcription from a Bach's Prelude-Chorale); this last is also played with virtuosity.

The second disc is the first of The Chopin series, by Roberto Poli. It features: Prelude in c sharp minor, Barcarolle Op. 60, Fantasy Op. 49, Ballade Op. 47 and other pieces including some minor and less known pieces by the Polish composer such as Cantabile, Largo, Variations on a theme by Paganini, etc.

"This recording of Chopin’s works by the Venetian pianist Roberto Poli couples the familiar with the unknown to reveal a different persona from the romantics’ Chopin, one closely attuned to popular tastes and actively engaged with the political strife of his own day. The collection also emphasizes what the nineteenth century failed to appreciate fully: a master craftsman in full command of large-scale musical forms". (James H. Johnson - Associate Professor of History, Boston University)

Alessandro Simonetto has been invited to the Round Table of the First Festival of Digital Freedom, to be held in Vicenza. The 20-day long event will promote the culture of sharing information.

There will be present, among others, representatives of UnaRete, Copyleft Italia, Liber Liber, Wikipedia Italia. The conference will be entitled: The reform of copyright in new media era. Simonetto’s topic is entitled: OnClassical. Producing quality music and leaving it free?

The appointment is for May 22 from 3 to 7 pm at the Concert Hall of the "Arrigo Pedrollo" Conservatory of in Vicenza.

For the full program of events of the First Festival of Digital Freedom go to the official website.

Alessandro Simonetto è stato invitato alla Tavola Rotonda del Primo Festival delle Libertà Digitali che si terrà a Vicenza nei prossimi giorni: 20 giorni di eventi per promuovere la cultura della condivisione delle informazioni.

Saranno presenti, fra gli altri, esponenti di UnaRete, Copyleft Italia, Liber Liber e Wikipedia Italia. Il convegno avrà per titolo La riforma del diritto d'autore nell'era dei nuovi media. OnClassical. Produrre musica di qualità e lasciarla libera? ecco il titolo dell'intervento di Simonetto.

Appuntamento per il 22 maggio dalle ore presso il 15 alle 19 presso la Sala concerti del Conservatorio "Arrigo Pedrollo" di Vicenza.

Il programma completo degli eventi del Primo Festival delle Libertà Digitali è visionabile dal sito ufficiale.

We have just started a work of transference of our files to Amazon Web Services. In terms of navigating the site onclassical.com anything won't change while there will be significant improvements in download files in high quality (.wav): the downloading of files is certainly faster and more stable.

In a few days the transaction will be completed and the results comparable with the current system.

Conceived with the purpose of offering Astor Piazzolla's tangos by playing those instruments which are its vital core, the TrisTango has shown an ability of combining both a faithful and a creative interpretation of the original music. The trio - now a quartet! - has remained far from numberless interpretations which only emphasize the melodic aspect of Piazzolla's music. It has gone where the young Piazzolla in the fifties got inspiration for his new music, that is contemporary classical music - and, most of all, jazz - but it has expanded its performances by absorbing the evocative sounds of new contaminations, such as ethnic music and has given wide space to improvisations. The result is an overwhelming emotional strenght which pours out from the musicians on to the audience.

Its eclecticism allows the TrisTango to perform both in classical music seasons and jazz festivals, and furthermore it is really interesting with orchestra accompaniment.

The sound (captured with 6 Neumann mics.) and the executive production are rigorously signed by Alessandro Simonetto, founder of onclassical.com; post-production and mastering are made by Daniele Roccato using a natural convolution.

Here it is the interview (Italian with English subtitles) about the new release of OnClassical: 'round Piazzolla signed by TrisTango: Daniele Roccato (doublebass), Marco Tezza (piano), Massimiliano Pitocco (bandoneon) and Saverio Tasca (vibraphone and percussion).

The (real) compact disc can be purchased (see contact info) at a price of 15 euros (including expenses).

Our beginning with our new licensing program has been so very successful: we are already receiving the many requests for music on DVDs and micro-film promotions.

So far, our greatest satisfaction comes from the fact that we have been requested by the Canadian Phi Group Inc., to use Gianluca Luisi's piano performance of Mozart's Sonata in D Major as soundtrack for the film Turbid. This is the first feature directed by George Fok. Turbid, was recently officially selected for the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal - says Marie-France Barbier, Creative Team Coordinator of Phi Group Inc. (see the official site). We are very pleased to have this request and to supply Gianluca Luisi's fine performance to them.

The producers seem to understand the benefits of this new type of licensing: no longer royalties and dispersing practices, only one organization to contact for your needs, a price which is pre-cleared and a signature, all completed to the finish for you.

We sincerely hope that all of our products will be most successful and we stand behind our approach to the production of quality recordings of fine Classical musical performances.

Starting tomorrow, 24th February, the first in a series of recordings for 2009 of recently discovered Italian young talents will begin, and in good time will be launched at onclassical.com. They are all musicians with international experience and recipients of important awards.

The selection was made after consideration of a very large number of proposals that we received during the months of December and January. About ten new recordings have been programmed (at least for the moment), but others are waiting to be confirmed.

The first appointment is with organist Simone Gheller, a recent winner of Korschenbroich and André Marchal International Competitions (amongst many others). Simone will record three complete albums on a new Alessio Lucato organ built near Padua.

Simone Gheller at the new Alessio Lucato organ - Foto by ©Alessio Lazzarini.

Other programs soon to be recorded regard works for piano by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Satie; and for harpsichord by Handel (amongst others); some chamber music and more organ music.

A few months ago Jamendo, the most important circuit of free music, came to an agreement with OnClassical for a special convention regarding our classical music. Under this agreement OnClassical provides them with 80% of classical music (which Jamendo currently does not cover) to be used as a commercial radio for classical music.

From Jamendo's pages, however, you can not download the album but only hear via streaming at a quality slightly superior to the host on onclassical.com (96 kbps / cbt). This and other exceptions are made to OnClassical to host the classical music from our internet corner.

The agreement signed in Faenza (Bologna) last November allows our musicians to profit through the sale of commercial radios that will serve as background music for stores, restaurants, etc., and for the creation of music for film, video, etc.

And remember that the same thing (licensing of music for purposes other than personal use) is now possible directly from our site too. The partnership with Jamendo, a highly visited portal with more than 3 million visitors per month, is a privilege that will especially aid the circulation of our online catalogue for the benefit of our artists.

From the left: Alessandro Simonetto (Founder of OnClassical), Veronika Körmendi (Marketing and artist support, Jamendo), Pierre-Yves Lanneau-Saint-Leger (Head of Marketing and Communication, Jamendo) at dinner after a (long!) day spent at the exhibition center of Faenza.

Today, two years ago, we launched this new version of OnClassical with a new philosophy, and still today it is the only one on the worldwide net! As a matter of fact onclassical.com is still the only e-label for self-produced classical music and the only e-label for audiophiles!

In these two years, though, not much has changed and several difficulties and reasons for discouragement still persist; all the same, a lot of things have happened and a growing reputation has spread both on and off the web. Just think of the recent interview to the largest national newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, but also our participation at the Festival della Creatività  / QuiFree next to important and even free realities such as Wikimedia and Ubuntu, or the recent partnership with Jamendo (of which you will read very soon).

(cc) Simonetto / OnClassical

It also saw the beginning of the sale of our repertoire for commercial uses such as background music for films.

This period has also seen the initiative to sponsor ten new recordings of young emerging artists, all tested by international awards, and all absolutely prestigious (but soon this news will appear on the blog and entire previews given on the site for the new releases).

And to crown these two years of life onclassical.com could not have missed today's long interview granted to the prestigious magazine for audiophiles, TNT-Audio, edited by Lucio Cadeddu!

For the time being, this is our news. Stimulation and encouragement comes from meetings by onclassical.com with amateurs and professionals of sound and musicians who have convinced us to proceed. And so to the future! Thanks to you all!