«MMy brother played the piano and, as soon as he left the house, I put myself in his place: I was able to reproduce Isaac Albéniz’s Malagueña… Our parents shouted “genius!” (laughs) and they took me to a Russian teacher. Which, in reality, taught me above all to listen. The ear went further than the hands: I didn’t become a musicianbut I have always loved those who choose this path, I am well aware of how much commitment it requires.” Francesca Moncada from Paternòhowever, did not remain a passive admirer: she took advantage of her past experience in the field of communication to create, in 2016, The Quartet’s Homesa project of connections between private places and emerging talents, between generations, between traditional and contemporary heritage.
The anniversary will be celebrated with various events, including a conference and two documentaries broadcast on Sky Arte on 30 June. «Culture invests little in the story of itself, which is instead fundamental: if you fail to involve people, even the best initiative will remain invisible».
The Quartet Homes: when culture creates connections
You didn’t take that risk.
We started from Italy with around twenty locations and a dozen groups, we moved to Europe and built an international network which now has 178 ensembles, 300 villas, castles, abbeys, palaces and a thousand concerts. The musicians needed homes, the homes needed music, the territories needed new opportunities for aggregation. Yet, they didn’t talk. We have created connections and offered the kids concrete means: hospitality, opportunities to try their hand, masterclasses, even loans of instruments from great luthiers.
Airis String Quartet at Karolyi Castely in Hungary
The meeting that changed everything
Why support string quartets (two violins, a viola and a cello)?
Fifteen years ago I attended a rehearsal of the Cremona Quartet: there were glances, breaths, shared tensions. I realized that if you are close to the person playing (not like in the theater), you are not just a spectator: you enter his magnetic field and are almost part of the notes. It was a revelation! Attending many chamber groups, I understood that the main need was not purely economic. Unlike orchestral members and soloists, the members – not having a director – must spend a lot of time together to rehearse, discuss and find a common language. In hotels this is almost impossible. So I thought about historic residences: silent places, with large spaces, often far from the noise of the cities. For the artists, who “give back” with a final performance, they represented a temporary home. For owners, a way to keep alive legacies that are sometimes difficult to manage. For the public, the opportunity to enjoy beauty for free or at very low prices.
Beauty as a collective need
Some consider beauty a luxury.
I think it’s a right. A necessity. A performance in a garden, a cloister, a courtyard is an experience that reminds us of who we are and connects us with others. Without considering that the string quartet is a sublime expression of genius (Franz Joseph Haydn, at the end of the eighteenth century, is considered its “father”) from which we should draw inspiration.
The Biedermeier Quartet at the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà in Messina.
Harmony as a model of society
In what sense?
It represents the perfect example of cooperation, a social and political metaphor: four people, coming from different contexts, build something magical together. There is no dominant voice, there is a common goal. One+one+one+one can make much more than four. And we don’t need “female quotas”: by choosing each other (there is no elderly male to decide) we have naturally achieved equality. Indeed, the number of women is higher, between 55 and 60 percent.
Ten years ago Francesca Moncada di Paternò created Le Dimore del Quartetto.
A summer of music and landscapes
One of your (many) initiatives is about to start, the Musica con Vista festival.
We are at the seventh edition: from June 21st to September 21st we travel across Italy with a series of concertsfrom Trieste to Palermo, from Vicenza to Catania.
Where do you get financing?
Not from the Single Entertainment Fund, managed by the Ministry of Culture. We have participated in European Union tenders and won them. Then there are the sponsors, the donations and, obviously, the proceeds from some of our activities.
Leadership learned in the family
How did you acquire management skills?
You will smile… Being a mother. I have three children and, due to family needs, I lived abroad a lot: every time I found myself in different places, without speaking the language, having to recreate a new stability between schools, doctors, sports activities.
The concert that you carry in your heart?
There are many. Perhaps the first after Covid, in the garden of a villa in Bergamo. All distanced, we listened with tears falling on our masks… We understood how much we had missed beauty.