Cerro Torre, op. 11 (2018)

Luca Massaglia (b. 1975) — Cerro Torre, op. 11 (2018) for organ

The composer writes: “Cerro Torre (3.128 m / 10.262 ft) is a mountain located in Southern Patagonia, in a region which is disputed between Argentina and Chile. It has been called one of the most difficult mountains to climb in the world. The top has often a mushroom of rime ice, formed by the constant strong winds, increasing the difficulty of reaching the actual summit. In 1991, Werner Herzog directed the movie ‘Schrei aus Stein’ (‘Scream of Stone’), that has elements drawn from the history of the supposed first conquest of the summit of Cerro Torre in 1959 by the Italian climber Cesare Maestri and his partner, the Austrian Toni Egger, who died during the descent. The first undisputed ascent was made in 1974 by the ‘Ragni di Lecco’ (‘Lecco Spiders’): Italian climbers Daniele Chiappa, Mario Conti, Casimiro Ferrari, and Pino Negri.”

Italian organist Luca Massaglia (b. 1975) was born in Turin and was educated there at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. Since 2001 he has been organist at the Madonna degli Angeli Sanctuary. In 2010, Massaglia was artistic director of the Note per la Sindone (Notes for the Holy Shroud) organ festival in Turin. As a concert organist, Massaglia has toured very extensively internationally. From 2009–12 he was also a member of a saxophone and organ duo (Duo Ricercare) which likewise toured internationally and also recorded a CD for Elegia Records. He is currently also a collaborative artist with many musicians including violinist Marco Casazza, organist Paolo Maria Guardini, and mezzo-soprano Margit Lykke Christensen, among others. In 2017, he formed the Russian-Italian Organ Duo with his wife, Elena Kalashnikova.