About me

Lucio Labella Danzi, a cellist, has performed as a soloist in concertos by Vivaldi, Boccherini, Donizetti, Haydn, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, as well as pieces by Paganini, Bloch, Respighi, Piazzolla, and Bragato. He has performed the complete suites for solo cello by Bach and in October 2024 he will present Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the Zubin Mehta hall. The year 2025 will begin with the performance of Vivaldi's concerto for two cellos in the Salone di Cinquecento in Florence and a masterclass at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. His natural predisposition for chamber music leads him to perform, in various formations, well-known repertoire pieces such as the sonatas of Beethoven and Brahms or Mozart's quartets, as well as compositions by authors like Gabriel Pierné, Jean Cras, and the sonata for cello and piano by Albéric Magnard, not to mention contemporary literature from Sofia Gubaidulina, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, Franco Donatoni, Goffredo Petrassi, Azio Corghi, and Salvatore Sciarrino.

Lucio collaborates with musicians such as Davide Cabassi, Marco Rapetti, Diego Dini Ciacci, Ivano Battiston, Roberto Fabbriciani, and guitarist Giorgio Albiani with whom he held concerts in 2024 in Florence, Arezzo, Shanghai, and Beijing. He performs in important concert seasons like the Unione Musicale in Turin, Aula Magna of Sapienza UIC, Palacultura in Messina, Teatro Vittoria in Rome, Teatro Dehon in Bologna, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Auditorium Monteverdi in Mantua, and with the Friends of Music in Florence, Cuneo, Novara, Verona, Lake Garda, the Organ Academy in Parma, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, as well as in various festivals organized in cities like Levanto, Viterbo, Torrechiara, Fossombrone, Portogruaro, Rovereto, Lecce, Cagliari, etc.

A guest on various radio broadcasts and invited to juries of several competitions such as YOM at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno or the CCOM competition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Lucio has recorded for the magazine Amadeus the quintets of Martucci and Respighi, for the record label Concerto two symphonies by Mozart transcribed by Clementi for piano, violin, flute, and cello, and for Brilliant Classics, a CD dedicated to the complete compositions of Ernő Dohnányi for cello and piano, released in September 2021.

He has an intense orchestral activity, having been a stable member of the "A. Toscanini" Symphony Orchestra in Parma and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with which he collaborated as principal cellist, as well as with other ensembles such as the Orchestra della Toscana, the Veneto Symphony Orchestra, the Solisti Fiorentini, Conductus of Merano, the Orchestra of the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, the Archè Orchestra, I Cameristi del Maggio Fiorentino, and has held concerts and tours in Europe, Asia, and Africa with prestigious conductors such as Mehta, Muti, Abbado, Chung, Sinopoli, Maazel, and Sawallisch. He has also collaborated with the Orchestra of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari and the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano.

In 2010, he founded the Florence Cello Ensemble, an orchestra made up solely of cellists, of which he is concertmaster and soloist. The ensemble holds concerts throughout Italy, including Milan, Piacenza, Pisa, Elba Island, Matera, Orvieto, etc. Awarded in various music competitions, the ensemble has collaborated with important artists like Marco Pierobon and Giovanni Sollima, and performs works by contemporary composers such as Salvatore Passantino, Alessandro Magini, and Adriano Guarnieri, who transcribed Bach's The Art of Fugue for four cellos, with its world premiere at the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna in the Mozart hall, and subsequent performances in Florence, Reggio Emilia, and Livorno. A cellist with GAMO in Florence for several seasons, he has participated in numerous productions performing works by artists such as Mauricio Kagel and Claudio Ambrosini.

The Italian Society of Contemporary Music has commissioned pieces for solo cello, cello and guitar, and for the Florence Cello Ensemble from several important Italian composers such as Giovanni Claudio Traversi, Giorgio Dalla Villa, Alessandro Salandrini, Filippo Lepre, Luca Antignani, Christian Paterniti, Vincenzo Saldarelli, Andrea Mannucci, Piero Niro, Sergio Lanza, Albino Taggeo, and Virginio Zoccatelli, which Lucio performed in the 2025 season.

Lucio also transcribes arrangements for cello ensemble of major pieces from the classical repertoire such as Schumann's Concerto or Strauss's Don Quixote, virtuosic pieces like Dvořák's Rondo or Rossini's Une larme, as well as pieces from musicals and film music like An American in Paris, New York, New York, or West Side Story.

The transcriptions are published by EMA Vinci Records. The Florence Cello Ensemble is a resident group at the Busoni Center in Empoli.

An eclectic and versatile cellist, Lucio has created several shows: An Evening with the Stars with Cristina Zavalloni, co-author of Inferno a Treblinka with Marina Massironi as the reciting voice, and Ma che spettacolo, a humorous musical-theatrical piece, with soprano Maria Luigia Borsi and the collaboration of Opera Music Management, featured in the seasons of Forli, Pontedera, Brescia, and Livorno. He founded the Florence String Trio and is the dedicatee of the String Trio by Carlo Boccadoro published by Ricordi. He has performed more than fifty replicas of the original Mittente Wolfgang Amadè, together with Tullio Solenghi, a concert that includes the performance of the Divertimento KV 563 and readings from Mozart's letters.

Lucio has an intense teaching activity, holding cello and chamber music courses for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the University of Western Music Ontario, Francigena International Arts, Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Florence International Music & Arts Festival for Korea, Dima in Arezzo, and his students from all over the world are regularly awarded in important competitions and contests for orchestras of the most significant lyric and symphonic institutions in Italy.

He graduated with honors from the Conservatorio di Matera and refined his skills with Amedeo Baldovino, Miklós Perenyi, Dankwart Gahl, Emil Klein, and Anner Bylsma, while for chamber music he attended courses with the Trio di Trieste and Franco Rossi. In 1993, he obtained his teaching qualification in cello, winning the national competition, and has taught at the Conservatories of Trento, Castelfranco Veneto, and Bolzano. He is the head of the cello class at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence. He plays a cello by Alfredo Lanini from 1925.

"[...] I had the pleasure of listening to Lucio Labella Danzi. I was struck by his excellent technique, attention to sound, great musicality, and interpretative ability [...]" Zubin Mehta

"[...] I was able to appreciate the musical qualities of Lucio Labella Danzi: beautiful sound, noble phrasing, a tenacious care in wanting to understand the spirit of the work and the will to respect its text and form [...]" Franco Rossi

"[...] On October 29 at 20:00, the first concert will take place at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The program will feature music by Max Bruch with “Kol Nidrei,” Adagio on Jewish melodies op. 47 in the version for strings with solo cellist Lucio Labella Danzi [...]" Gazzetta di Firenze

"[...] The delegation from “Cherubini” in the Land of the Great Wall, with its director Giovanni Pucciarmati, Prof. Giorgio Albiani, delegate for internationalization, Dr. Anna Maria Emanuele, assistant to the internationalization office, also includes the direct participation of prominent musicians, teachers from “Cherubini”: pianist Giampaolo Nuti and cellist Lucio Labella Danzi, along with guitarist Giorgio Albiani himself. [...]" Archi Magazine, November 2024

"[...] Varietè by Mauricio Kagel. Superb performance by interpreters we know well, experienced and solid: Giovanni Riccucci, Michele Bianchini, Nicola Tommasini, Lucio Labella Danzi, [...]" Il Giornale della Musica, Stefano Bozolo, Florence

"[...] The Florence String Trio presents a great Beethoven. Noteworthy is the violin of Patrizia Bettotti with its seductive cantabile, the musical viola of Carmelo Giallombardo, the cello of Lucio Labella Danzi, the true helm of the formation, the “miraculous” sound of Diego Dini Ciacci [...]" L'Arena C.Z., Verona

“[...] The Florence String Trio enchants the audience, who is captivated and overwhelmed by the beauty of the music. Music that moves, reaching straight to the senses of everyone [...]” Stefania Ioime, Media&Sipario

“[...] They gave a splendid concert featuring music by Mozart and Schubert [...]” Michele Manzotti, La Nazione

“[...] The Florence String Trio leaves the audience speechless, who, fascinated, emotionally overwhelmed, and swept away by the beauty of the music, can do nothing but hold back their applause until the proper moment. The performance is of excellent level, and the notes drawn from the violin, viola, and cello often evoke sound atmospheres that tend toward melancholy, nostalgia, and sadness of spirit [...]” Fabio Montemurro, La Platea Roma.

“[...] At the theater, the extraordinary, passionate performance of Tullio Solenghi and the Florence Trio on the letters sent by Mozart to his family [...]” Il Messaggero Umbria.

“[...] A very interesting show took place on Friday at the Palacultura for the season of the Accademia Filarmonica. The Florence String Trio's performance was excellent. [...]” Giovanni Franciò, Tempo Stretto Messina

The “Cello of the Sea” will play this Friday at the Badia Fiesolana, through the hands and art of M° Lucio Labella Danzi. It is a special instrument: made from the wood of the boats of migrants who arrived in Lampedusa. The “Cello of the Sea” and the Metamorphosis project will be presented at the Badia Fiesolana on the day celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Balducci Foundation. La Nazione Firenze, April 9, 2025