[Anselm Hauke]

"Encouraging all bassists to play from their soul is Sciascia's mission in his teaching, both with his regular students at the Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Tartini in Trieste, and in the masterclasses he has given across Italy and abroad. 'The heart is the most important thing,' he asserts. 'You need to learn about fingering, bowing, etcetera, but I like to teach the music. Everyone is different, I don't want to have everyone playing the same as me. You need to be able to move the audience in your own way.' Sciascia admits that this approach was not always at the forefront of his own learning. 'When I was a student, my maestroes told me "it's impossible to teach [musicality], you are either naturally musical or not". But now, I do teach that way, you have to be able to find things inside people. No-one plays the same as I do simply by learning with me - I help them to find their own voice.'
Regardless of whether he is giving a live performance or recording for CD, the importance of bringing his soul into the music remains the same for Sciascia. 'Many people say that it's easy to record, as you can edit afterwards,' he muses. 'But I think everyone should try recording before they say that! Yes, it's easy to cut things, but you could end up being in the studio for a whole month, and that's expensive. In reality, you have two to three days, and you have to be able to leave something of yourself in that CD, it will be there forever. When you record, you have to be in the right mood all the time, it's hard work.' Sciascia's process of recording provides him with some time for reflection before editing begins. 'I like to play a piece three times without stopping, then I go home afterwards and choose the best parts from the recordings, where I hear the emotion is there - that's the most important thing.'Preparing for a live recital requires a different approach. 'As musicians, you make yourself quiet before playing, you can do meditation, Feldenkrais exercises, anything to become quiet. Then, you go on and you're not quiet! Before a performance, there are a lot of distractions, but the moment you go out onto the stage, you're quiet, the audience is quiet, everyone is silent, and it's like magic. There's something in the air.'
With a schedule of over 15 live recitals this year in Italy, as well as assignments further afield, Sciascia has a lot of magic to create. Over the past years, he has performed twice at the International Society of Bassists' conventions, in 2001 and 2003, gaining a standing ovation for his performance at the latter. Looking ahead, Sciascia has a tour of Japan planned for later in 2004, where the bassist has an enthusiastic following - including an ensemble bearing his name. After hearing the Quella Fiamma CD, Japanese bassist Yoshihiro Utsumi began writing to Sciascia, and went on to form the 22-person Sciascia Ensemble Japan (SEJ) to play around the country and 'make people know [Sciascia's] art'. More exposure in Japan followed, with Susumu Morikawa of Tokyo's King Records selecting two pieces from Quella Fiamma for his compilation CD of double bass solos, King of Bass. King Records also re-released Sciascia's 2002 album Songs of the World in 2003 for a Japanese audience, with the title Contrabasso!. Sciascia has built up a network of friends and colleagues in Japan, including Minoru Kimoto, who he describes as running 'the best bass shop in Tokyo.'
Sciascia sums up his approach to music, saying 'we need more communication between people - it's a mission to make people laugh, cry and feel things. The importance of the music is to make you feel free, and I play to lighten the hearts of other people. I hope I can help everyone else to do these things as well.' Whether listening to his CDs or in a live performance, Sciascia leaves a part of himself in the music, and with his audience.

Issued : Autumn 2004 Version Published Sep.2004