adEIdJ – Associazione delle Etichette Indipendenti di Jazz

Press Release

Stefano Bellon (Padua, 1956) is a classical composer who studied with Wolfango Dalla Vecchia and further refined his skills with Franco Donatoni at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and later at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. He also attended seminars held by Salvatore Sciarrino, Pierre Boulez, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and studied analysis with Giacomo Manzoni. In addition, he worked as a jazz arranger, a genre he had explored as a pianist in his youth. After attending the conservatories of Udine, Trieste and Rovigo, he has been teaching composition for many years at the Pollini Conservatory in Padua. His works have been performed across Europe, America, and Asia by prestigious ensembles such as the Arditti Quartet, the Atlas Ensemble, the CMEK, and the Lumen Contemporary Ensemble, as well as by distinguished soloists. He collaborates closely with Alvise Vidolin in the field of electronic experimentation. Stylistically, Bellon initially aligned himself with the aesthetics of Donatoni, one of his first teachers, and Luciano Berio, to whom he dedicated Paul McCartney Commentaries, premiered at the Biennale Musica in Venice. Like Bruno Maderna, he has pursued a rethinking of jazz experiences within traditional writing, developing a post–serial compositional approach that also incorporates materials from non–European, especially Asian, cultures.

“Vocativo”, the first album entirely dedicated to his music (though his works appear on many other recordings), brings together four major compositions spanning roughly a decade, from the aforementioned tribute to Berio (1995) to the more recent Alfabeto Deserto (2006). These are live recordings of impeccable technical quality, all made in Amsterdam, two of them at one of Europe's most prestigious concert halls, the Concertgebouw. Three of these are performed by the extraordinary Atlas Ensemble – which also features traditional Asian instruments – under the direction of Ed Spanjaard, and one by the Nieuw Ensemble. Particularly noteworthy are the outstanding performances by the Chinese Yan Jiemin in Snakes, Skin and Strings and, somewhat unexpectedly, by Pino Mango, whose naturally rich and nuanced voice proves ideal for interpreting the title track. Here, the lyrics – taken from poems by Andrea Zanzotto – play an essential role, and Mango's interpretation only deepens the sense of loss for such a remarkable singer–songwriter and uncommon vocal talent.

We hope that this album will help bring renewed attention to Stefano Bellon, an innovative and highly individual composer, rare on the Italian contemporary music scene. We also wish to highlight  another in our catalogue: “Note sui Sillbari (omaggio a Goffredo Parise)” (Arte Sonora, 2022), which includes three of Bellon's compositions for jazz big band and electronics, with lyrics by Vitaliano Trevisan, performed by the author himself.

Track List

1. Alfabeto Deserto (concerto for flute, English horn and orchestra)
2. Vocativo
3. Paul McCartney Commentaries
4. Snakes, Skin and Strings (concerto for erhu and orchestra)

All compositions by Stefano Bellon (on track n. 2 lyrics by Andrea Zanzotto)

Personnel

1. Atlas Ensemble; Ed Spanjaard (conductor); Harrie Starreveld (flute, piccolo); Ernest Rombout (English horn)
2. Atlas Ensemble; Ed Spanjaard (conductor); Mango (vocals)
3. Nieuw Ensemble; Wijnand de Groot (audio recording)
4. Atlas Ensemble; Ed Spanjaard (conductor); Yan Jiemin (ehru) 

Recording Data

1. Muziekgebouw, Amsterdan, on March 9, 2006
2. Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on June 27, 2004
3. Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on November 11, 1995
4. Paradiso, Amsterdam, on February 8, 2005

track n° 3 audio recording by Wijnand de Groot for Concertzender

Mastered and edited by Walter Bertolo, at Digitalsound Studio, Vedelago (Treviso), Italy, in 2025