“As musical culture changes shape, and moves beyond conventional ‘classical’ concerts, there is a demand for instrumentalists whose musical response is both wider and more focused. Though you hear Roberta tonight in a conventional setting, playing the masterpieces for clarinet and string quartet, she would be equally at home on clarinets of the eighteenth century, recreating the performance styles of previous eras, or in dancing and playing for you Stockhausen’s mammoth “Harlekin” for solo clarinet. She is a fine orchestral player and an inspiring teacher, with a vision of the instrument and the music that goes beyond the merely superficial and virtuoso — though of course she can play the virtuoso too when that is what is required, as you will hear. She has above all a winningly fresh approach to everything she does. ” (Antony Pay)
Roberta Gottardi’s interests range from late Baroque repertoire on period instruments to present-day music, performed in ensembles and as a soloist. She plays the clarinet as well as all the other instruments of its family, from Eb clarinet to basset horn and bass clarinet.
Born in Trento, after graduating with honors at her city’s Conservatory, she studied with Antony Pay.
She has played for many years in orchestras, first as a member of the Italian Youth Orchestra and then with Rai Orchestra, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro di Genova, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Orchestra Haydn di Trento e Bolzano, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Orchestra of Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, to name but a few. She also plays classical clarinets, collaborating with La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Bozen Baroque Orchestra, L’Arte dell’Arco, Ausermusici and, currently, with Merseburger Hofmusik.
In parallel, she has always devoted herself to chamber music playing, among others, with Quartetto Prometeo, Quartetto di Torino, pianist Cristiano Burato, cellist Claude Hauri, and with various ensembles including Windkraft, I Virtuosi Italiani, Musica ‘900, Accademia Bizantina, I Cameristi di Trento e Verona, Nuovo Ensemble Europeo, Pocket Opera, Ottetto Classico Italiano.
As a soloist she has performed with Haydn Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano, Chamber Orchestra of Alpe Adria, Orchestra of the Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza, Ensemble Serenade. In 2007 she has been soloist in the first performance of Ankaa, concerto for clarinet and orchestra by Fabio Cifariello Ciardi, commissioned by the Haydn Orchestra of Trento and Bolzano. She has always dedicated herself with passion to the contemporary repertoire for clarinet, she has been is a member and soloist of Algoritmo and today of Ensemble Prometeo.
She has performed in some of the most important festivals in Europe (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Festival Pontino, Münchener Biennale, South Bank Centre of London, Bologna Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Autunno Musicale di Como, Società Filarmonica di Trento, Acquario Romano, Festival di Nuova Consonanza, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Autunno di Varsavia, Leizhalle di Amburgo, Musik-Triennale di Colonia, Holland Festival, Ravenna Festival…), and she has collaborated with many composers such as Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Kagel, Cifariello Ciardi, Fedele, Biasioni, Battistelli, Traversa.
Reference performer for the musical theater work HARLEKIN by K. Stockhausen, conceived for a single clarinetist-dancer-mime, she performed it more than twenty times in Italy and abroad, including festivals such as Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Ravenna Festival, Autunno Musicale in Como, Tallinn and Milan Conservatories.
In 2001, for her interpretation of Harlekin, she received from the composer himself the first prize in the competition promoted annually by the Stockhausen Foundation.
In 2010 she participated in the complete performance of Stockhausen KLANG organized by MusikFabrik at the MusikTriennale in Cologne, premiering “Treue”. She also played the mime part of INORI in the opening concert of the Venice Biennale 2017 and the part of Busa in EVAs LIED at the Holland Festival 2019.
She has recorded for Edipan, Symposion, Stradivarius, Altri Suoni, Stockhausen Verlag, Neos, as well as for several broadcasts of RAI Radio 3.
She has been Antony Pay’s assistant at the masterclasses in Sermoneta and teaches clarinet at Bolzano Conservatory.
