Interview with the Ammara•Prosseda Piano Duo

I had the privilege of being introduced to the piano maestro, Roberto Prosseda through our mutual friend in music, Dr. Inna Faliks, head of UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music’s Piano Performance department for over a decade. We held a Zoom meeting and I found him to be warm and engaging. When I discussed Athena’s brand, pairing immersive imagery with classical music, Roberto was on board. Later I learned his lovely wife, internationally acclaimed pianist, Alessandra Ammara would be traveling with him. It made perfect sense to include her in the program.

They have crafted a fantastic program of piano solos and a finale duo with 4 hands on the piano paired with gorgeous eclectic art that compliments each piece.

Before each concert, it is our tradition to introduce our guest musicians and learn the stories behind their upcoming program. We hope you enjoy their interview.

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LRW: Roberto and Alessandra, it’s a privilege to feature your Piano Duo in The Athena Foundation for the Arts 2025 Spring Concert Season! Thank you for joining us for this interview about your remarkable program. To start, may I ask how you two met, professionally?

Alessandra: We met in 1994 in Imola, where we were both studying. A few years later, in 1998, we began playing together as a piano duo.

Roberto: We also started dating in June 1998, shortly after the Casagrande Piano Competition in Terni. Alessandra won 2nd prize and I came in 3rd. We married in 2006 and now have three children.

LRW: Meeting through music – a match made in music heaven! Thank you for sharing your story. For your upcoming Athena program, may I ask how you selected the pieces? Why these composers, and why now?

Roberto: Since the program needed a connection to imagery, we immediately thought of Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It already has a built-in narrative, as it was composed for Shakespeare’s play, and Mendelssohn’s own four-hand arrangement is one of our favorites. We’ve performed it many times and recorded it for Decca. However, this will be the first time we perform it alongside ten images—one for each movement.

LRW: Perfect! I’m so excited to learn the arrangement you will be playing was penned by Mendelssohn, himself! I can’t wait to experience the imagery alongside your beautiful performances. The audience is in for a real treat! May I ask about the other pieces in the program?

Alessandra: The rest of the program also connects to the idea of a “magical night.” For instance, Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune fits that theme beautifully, as does Danse de Puck, which echoes the poetic world of Mendelssohn and Shakespeare.

LRW: Amazing! I can’t wait to experience this magical pairing. I’m intrigued by the video you have curated. What’s the story?

Roberto: We’re also including Luca Lombardi’s Mendelssohn im Jüdischen Museum Berlin, written in 2014. I premiered it at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In this work, Lombardi imagines Mendelssohn walking through the museum and learning about the Holocaust. The music alternates lyrical passages — some quoting Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte and Midsummer Night’s Dream — with more dissonant, dramatic sections that reflect the horror of the Holocaust from Mendelssohn’s imagined perspective.

LRW: That will be an intense but meaningful close to the first half of the program. Can you give us a hint about the imagery selected? How did you pair each image with the music?

Alessandra: As for Debussy, we’re quite certain he was inspired by Arthur Rackham’s artwork when composing Danse de Puck. After seeing Rackham’s watercolors illustrating A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I really believe he captured the exact same poetic atmosphere that you can hear in Mendelssohn’s music.

LRW: I see what you mean. I’m excited for my art students to be exposed to Arthur Rackham’s whimsical and brilliant artwork alongside the beautiful Debussy pieces. May I learn more about the video that you paired with the Luca Lombardi piece?

Roberto: Yes. My performance of Luca Lombardi’s Mendelssohn in Jüdisches Museum Berlin will be accompanied by a powerful video by Italian film director Antonio Bido, based on the same piece creating a deeply moving musical and visual experience.

LRW: Interesting. This will be the first Athena concert to pair a film with a performance. A deeply moving theme seems fitting. Do you have plans to record more of your stunning solo and duo repertoire?

Roberto: I already recorded Mozart and Mendelssohn’s complete piano works—including Mendelssohn’s four-hand pieces with Alessandra—for Decca. Lately, my focus has been on rare Italian piano concertos. My latest release on Hyperion, recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Nir Kabaretti, includes concertos by Fano, Dallapiccola, Omizzolo, and Carrara. Upcoming projects include Beethoven piano sonatas on fortepiano and a new album of Georges Bizet’s piano music, which I recorded last week at the Fazioli Concert Hall.

LRW: Wow! I will have to check out your recordings and share with my piano students. I’ve attended concerts performed on fortepiano. Quite a distinct timbre. BTW, I’m a champion of lesser known composers and look forward to researching them. Best wishes on your upcoming projects! What about you, Alessandra?

Alessandra: I’m completing a full cycle of Claude Debussy’s piano works. The third CD, which includes the 12 Études, will be released later this year on Piano Classics.

LRW: Congratulations! That’s quite an undertaking. I will look for the CD when it is released. Now, it is an Athena tradition at the end of an interview, to ask our esteemed guests, do each of you have a favorite quote by a composer or musician you’d like to share with our readers?

Roberto: Yes—one of my favorite quotes is from Felix Mendelssohn:
“People often complain that music is ambiguous, that their ideas on the subject always seem so vague, whereas everyone understands words; with me it is exactly the reverse… What the music I love expresses to me is not thought too indefinite to be put into words, but, on the contrary, too definite. ~ Felix Mendelssohn”

Alessandra: My personal motto is from poet Paul Verlaine, who once wrote:
De la musique avant toute chose. Music before all else. ~ Paul Verlaine Share on X

LRW: Fantastic! Thank you for sharing these inspiring gems. We are excited for your multimedia concert and wish you safe travels from Italy!

To learn more about these maestros, check out their website and follow them on social media.
Roberto Prosseda
Website
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Alessandra Ammara
Website
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Join us at the concert and meet them in person. Here are the concert details. Hope to see you then!

CONCERT DETAILS:

Program Link

Date
Sunday, April 6, 2025

Time
Doors Open: 3:30 PM
Concert: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PDT
Delicious Complimentary Refreshments at Intermission

Place
Community Auditorium
Church of Scientology of the Valley
11455 Burbank Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 91601

Disclaimers:
•The concert is hosted exclusively by The Athena Foundation for the Arts.
•It is Not a church event.
•The Community Auditorium is rented to nonprofits and charitable organizations.
• If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us. Thank you.

FREE Parking: Farmdale Avenue lot and Burbank Boulevard lot across the street and street parking

Tickets
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite here or scan the QR code at the door. Cash or Credit card payments also available.
Questions? Please feel free to email us. Hope you can join us!

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