Cristiano is a founding member of progressive band Moongarden and over the years has explored a diversity of musical genres in collaborative projects such as Submarine Silence, Cavalli Cocchi, Lanzetti & Roversi, as well as numerous solo projects, soundtracks and session/production/teaching work.
Currently writing and playing keyboards for Mangala Vallis and producing Catafalchi Del Cyber, Cristiano has, in recent years, collaborated with many well-known and respected names such as Bernardo Lanzetti, Aldo Tagliapietra, John Wetton, Steve Hackett, David Jackson, Massimo Zamboni, Flaco Biondini, Tryptic, Zef Noise & Mike Ill (ex-Sweet Lizard Illtet), Silvia Orlandi, Angela Baraldi, Leonora, Roberto Tiranti and many others.
“I had wanted to dedicate myself completely to a solo album for some time now, totally free to go where I might, independent of market or stylistic pressures,” says Says Cristiano. “A proverbial flight of fancy as it were. An album in which I could let my influences shine through without having to prove anything to anyone and one in which I didn’t have to crank up the volume. AntiQua is a strange land where time flows at a more natural pace – I don’t really know if it’s on our planet, or even if it exists in the past, present or future, near or far… AntiQua manifests when we need it, every time we give in to dreams and forget about the daily grind. It is a goblet of wine in a candlelight tavern. It certainly did me a world of good, a brief trip to a land governed by antique ideals of beauty and harmony. I hope it may accompany the quietest and sweetest moments of your existence as it has mine.”
“Anthony Phillips, my master and above all a friend of mine, has taught me a lot about harmony and melody,” says Cristiano about his musical influences run far and wide: “But I am also influenced by Ennio Morricone, John Williams, Lyle Mays, Steve Hackett and obviously all the English classic prog of the 1970s.”
Along with grand piano, synths, Mellotron and Hammond Organ, Cristiano plays 12-string, classical and electric guitar. Along with Aldo Tagliapietra and Bernardo Lanzetti, the CD also includes guest appearances by David Cremoni, Erik Montanari, Fabio Serra, Gigi Cavalli Cocchi, James Larcombe, Leonora and Mirko Tagliasacchi.
“The enthusiasm of Bernardo Lanzetti!,” says Cristiano. “Like a child lost in toys when they hand him the music that I wrote in my room! And the furious quarrels due to precisely this enthusiasm that sometimes maybe I could not handle all of the energy that this great artist emanated from his ideas and visions. A great achievement writing for him. The peace and serenity that I got from Aldo Tagliapietra and his beautiful daughter Gloria. To see and hear Aldo singing your own song at home is like having the history in your hands that you model your own work of art and makes it grow to the point of becoming a masterpiece.”
“Approach this album without any anxiety, and desire to find deep researches in sounds electronics or modern crossover influences. ‘AntiQua‘ is a tribute to the music and artists I love without any fear to sound or appear retro – so relax and enjoy it!”
Buy the AntiQua CD or MP3s