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It’s been 100 years since his birth and Vincenzo Vitale has remained a focus of interest of the piano world. Though contemporary to so many distinguished personalities, Vitale stands out as the most charismatic Italian teacher of the second half of the 20th Century. By leading dozens of youngsters to become professional musicians, he has in fact created what can be called a piano movement. His pedagogical talent was to pair basic principles, which he gathered from anatomical and physiological observations of the hand and of the arm, with the invaluable experience of a personalised approach for each student.As it was impossible to comprehensively define the theory of piano technique, Vitale did not leave a systematic curriculum. After his death, many students took it upon themselves to hand down to posterity what they had learned from him. However, those who were lucky enough to learn from him for the duration of their education, were joined by many others who frequented Vitale only for a short time and for various reasons. And there is a cohort of his students who increased the number of those who, in one way or another, can reconnect their education to Vincenzo Vitale. Today’s students are rather confused about the legacy of Vitale, and understandably so; furthermore, such confusion could lead to the loss of this heritage.
In order to defend this heritage, the University Suor Orsola Benincasa founded the Centre for Piano Studies ‘Vincenzo Vitale’, directed by Michele Campanella with the assistance of Massimo Bertucci, Laura De Fusco, who were joined shortly after by Carlo Bruno as the expert in chamber music. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of Vitale’s students who shed light on the great Maestro with their illustrious careers. However, the four teachers of the Centre share the fact that they are the most representative of the ‘old’ students, and are among the most expert and among those who started their education with Vitale. In a moment when current regulations in music schools make it really difficult to achieve consistency and selection on merit by the teachers, the Centre intends to position itself within the longstanding and glorious Neapolitan piano tradition and re-establish the connection, which today hangs by a thread, to the older generation of pianists. The legacy of Vitale cannot go lost or, worse still, become confused in a thousand deviations. Naples is still capable of retaking the role it played in the 20th Century, as the most prolific city in producing piano talents at national level. As a first step, the Centre will organise a university specialisation course, with selections taking place in September 2008 and lessons starting the following month. Entry and final exams will be assessed by all teachers, though every teacher will have their own class, following Vitale’s tradition as one of the last teachers capable of addressing the issues of a beginner as well as those of a concert player. Lessons will take place with the beautiful backdrop of University Suor Orsola Benincasa, and will lead to a final exhibition for all deserving students.