by Pierangelo Conte (La Tribuna di Treviso - Friday, October 4, 1996)

In the concert that took place last Tuesday in Villa Condulmer in Mogliano, the young Venetian pianist Michelangelo Stregapede demonstrated once again his extraordinary virtuosity. The rich and heterogeneous program (almost a mini history of piano compositions, from the simple monothematic and bipartite sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti to the free and contaminated expressiveness of Balakirev), fascinated the large audience. Particularly captivating was the performance of the Polonaise op. 44 in F sharp minor by Chopin, in which the generous character of Stregapede, a highly skilled pianist, emerged. Equally significant were the interpretations of the Etudes op. 10 no. 1, 2, 5 and op. 25 no. 12 by Chopin and the Etude no. 3 «La Campanella» from Liszt's Six Etudes of Paganini. Supported by a correct approach to the scores, Stregapede proposed a careful reading of these «monuments» of the 19th century repertoire: the enormous difficulties of these pages, which really seem to present a catalog of extreme pianism, were rendered with appreciable instrumental clarity. Intense and original was also the interpretation of the famous Sonata op. 27 no. 2 by Ludwig Van Beethoven, also known as «Moonlight Sonata». Warm applauses were reserved to the pianist who is going through a period full of commitments: in fact, Michelangelo Stregapede will soon make recordings.