Giulio Briccialdi (Terni, 2 March 1818 - Florence, 17 December 1881), prince of flutists, artist and musician, managed, seamlessly, to be an outstanding virtuoso of the flute, inspired by the virtuosity of Nicolò Paganini, and, at the same time, an outstanding first flute in an orchestra, a composer, a teacher, and an innovator in the construction of a “Briccialdi model” flute. It is almost incredible how in his artistic and professional life there was no break between an extremely high level of prestige and excellence, and a routine whose goal was to make a living. A dualism that aptly represents the new social figure of the bourgeois who uses his art, no matter how high its level is, as a means for earning his livelihood. Two of the greatest interpreters, Roberto Fabbriciani and Massimiliano Damerini, here propose a selection of the works by the “prince of the flutists” on the second centenary of his birth.
