We would like to know more about Francesco. What was Francesco like as a child?

I started playing at the age of eleven, without knowing what music was, without being the child of musicians, and without knowing what a clarinet was. The conservatory in Pesaro, my hometown, had an excellent attached music school, and so, thanks to my family's guidance, I found myself admitted to the clarinet class of a young teacher, even though I couldn’t produce a single note. That teacher, Guido, was fundamental to my development. He made me laugh, cry, insulted me, showered me with compliments, hugged me, yelled at me—but most importantly, he put me on stage, right away. Guido taught me that this was the job of a musician: to communicate. He managed to do this even with contemporary music, even when the audience was small, even as he won some of the most prestigious competitions in the world. He always pursued his dream, and that, along with curiosity, was the greatest lesson he gave me.

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Then I had another teacher, Luca, who taught me humility and real hard work, the grind. He gave me the tools to enter the professional world, and above all, he taught me the pleasure of stepping back, of letting go of my ego to do something meaningful. It was with Luca that I discovered historical instruments.

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Both of these teachers are like fathers to me—two people to whom I owe respect and an affection that will always remain. The last part of my studies was with Pierre Andre. He gave me the freedom to be what I feel, to be an individual, a musician free to use my knowledge to create something different and unique.

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Alongside them were all my fellow students, who taught me how to listen.

I still consider myself a student, whether I'm listening to a conductor I admire, learning to listen to someone I don't, engaging in discussions with a student, or realizing that there are no limits to learning something new.

The modern clarinet is an instrument that many people play in Europe, why do you think it seems not many people play historical clarinet? What would you like to change so more people study your instrument? 

I am still amazed by how many people play the clarinet worldwide, especially in this particular historical moment where the digital realm dominates everything. Knowing that so many people, especially young people, and many others in general, approach the clarinet with curiosity never ceases to surprise me.

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However, in truth, historical clarinet playing has been growing significantly in recent years. More and more young musicians are drawn to this instrument and its repertoire. The opportunity to tackle classical and late Baroque music on period instruments, exploring the sounds and colors unique to them, is sparking increasing curiosity. After all, it’s an alternative way of making contemporary music. Even the job opportunities have multiplied compared to just a few years ago. So, I am confident that, in due proportion, the historical clarinet will become an increasingly studied and played instrument. What’s important is to approach it with honesty and respect. But I’m also sure that the more people take up this instrument, the more any potential "snake oil salesmen" will be revealed.

At what moment did you decide to specialize in historical music and why? What triggered this decision?

The historical clarinet entered my life thanks to my modern clarinet teacher, Luca Lucchetta, who himself was a student of Anthony Pay, a pioneer of historical instruments. Luca introduced me to this world. Shortly after I began studying, he suggested that I play Mozart's Requiem on historical basset horns. To prepare, I went to buy a recording—my first on historical instruments—Mozart's famous Requiem conducted by Jordi Savall. I fell in love with those sounds, that language, those tempos that were so different and yet so wonderfully natural.

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I would never have expected back then that I would be able to tell the same story to Jordi Savall in person 15 years later, at the conclusion of his second recording of Mozart's Requiem, in which I participated a couple of years ago. It was a unique emotion.

Who or what would you say have been your biggest influences?

Aside from the teachers I’ve been fortunate to meet along my journey, there are so many people who have helped lay the foundation upon which I've built my musical ideas. When I was just nineteen, I found myself spending an incredibly intense period in Buenos Aires, playing and studying the music of the great Astor Piazzolla on site. Under the guidance of Maestro Aisemberg, a close friend of the Piazzolla family, I found myself on the other side of the world, listening to music and colors that felt both familiar and distant at the same time. I analyzed the manuscripts of the “Quinteto Nuevo,” made transcriptions, adaptations, and deciphered the handwriting of Bragato, the official arranger of much of Piazzolla’s material. I transcribed simple lines which, in the hands of musicians like Piazzolla and Suárez, became pure poetry. 

At the same time, I was fortunate to hear the street musicians, the amateur singers in the Buliches, capable of conveying emotions through their playing and singing that I had rarely felt so deeply. Through popular music, street music, and the sincerity of music inspired by folk traditions, I found much of the interpretative inspiration that I feel is shared with the “classical” music I perform today: freedom, sincerity of expression, respect for the origins, and respect for those who listen to us.