Written by Benjamin Tomkins
November 8, 2024
Tens of thousands of visitors flock to Orvieto, Italy every year to enjoy the traditional food and culture and stand in awe of one of Europe’s most gorgeous and ornate cathedral facades. For €5 (€8 beginning in 2025), you can go inside and explore this masterpiece of Gothic architecture and artwork, but few people realize the colossal monument is actually an enormous instrument as well.
The organ of the Duomo was integrated into the interior by 16th-century sculptor and architect Ippolito Scalza. Today, when you hear the instrument burst into sound, more likely than not you will find the Duomo organist Riccardo Bonci at the console.
Riccardo is an Italian by birth and in spirit, but he didn’t earn this coveted position because of his nationality. He’s an extremely accomplished performer with a deep international resume to back up his extraordinary artistry. And in 2025, he’s opening the famous Emilio Greco bronze doors of the Duomo to launch the inaugural Orvieto Musica Organ Intensive seminar alongside the festival’s string, vocal, brass, and collaborative piano programs.
We sat down with Riccardo in a cafe across from the piazza from the Duomo steps to find out more about this incredible instrument—and the amazing experience OM participants can expect next summer.
We’re excited to have you on faculty this year!
Thank you! It’s been brilliant working with Kim Walker and the Orvieto Musica team, and I’m looking forward to a great festival this summer.
Tell us about the organ in the Duomo.
In the Italian tradition, it’s a bit of a mish-mash, but one that’s been done much more sensibly than many others. This is a country of Baroque organs from 1500-1750, and many churches wanted to save money by making them a bit more modern and Romantic. This has resulted in what I like to call “Frankenstein organs”—instruments that are a combination of multiple eras that don’t always make sense.
How so?
Putting a German manual on an Italian organ is like ketchup on pasta or pineapple on pizza. It’s death on the cross!
The updates and upgrades in the Duomo have been done much more sensibly. There was an overhaul in 1913 that worked out very well and a major expansion in 1975 that added a third manual. The facade has been maintained from the 1588 original, and the initial technical issues have been sorted out. The result is a sense of unity that preserves a lot of the original character. It has the high piercing frequencies of the Italian mixtures but with a lot more weight on the foundations.
Europe is a continent of great organs, and you’ve played on many of them. What’s it like going from instrument to instrument?
You never play in two places that are the same—every acoustic is very different, as is every instrument. In Perugia Cathedral, for instance, you have 12 seconds of reverb so you have to play a lot slower and articulate more to get some clarity.
Orvieto delivers substantial clarity. The pedal stops don’t get too “mushy” in the acoustics, and the mixture stops can be piercing but not overly so. We had an entire acoustical analysis done and figured out all the peculiarities of how different sound frequencies propagate in the building.
Where’s the best spot to hear the organ in the Duomo?
Riccardo: There are two perfect places: in the transept and the very back door. The nave is less optimal because the sound waves tend to cancel each other out there. When Orvieto Musica participants come this year, they’ll see what I mean.
These are the irreplaceable experiences you absorb in addition to hands-on training if you’re aspiring to be an organist in one of the world’s great institutions. There are so many details beyond just learning how to play brilliantly. You have to know history, architecture, acoustics—I’m in charge of tuning 650 of the 5000+ pipes by hand because the weather changes dramatically from season to season. In March, the A4 is 432Hz. In summer’s hottest weeks, it’s nearly 450Hz. You’ll often find me climbing around inside the instrument complaining to myself about the darn weather a little too loud!
All of these details influence what you do every day when you’re using the techniques and training you’ve worked so hard to perfect. It’s an ongoing and all-encompassing form of musicianship.
What can you tell potential OM applicants about the experience of coming to Italy to play?
Unlike any other instrument, organists have to travel to truly explore their art and profession. I’ve heard many string players and vocalists say “There’s no substitute for going to Italy,” but for us, it’s a must. Our Stradivari violins are built into the earth. Being an organist of international stature requires cultural as well as musical sensibilities, and all of it informs your artistry on every level. The regional preferences for architecture, sound, musicianship, and even the air you breathe all influence the instrument and how you handle it.
That also means there are no two organs that are alike. You have to adjust and rethink your approach every time. Whether it’s German, French, Italian, or Dutch, you can’t use the same configurations both for the performance and the music itself because the instruments are built very differently according to time and place. For instance, a German baroque Octave 4’ will sound very different from an Italian baroque Ottava 4’ or a French romantic Prestant 4’ although all are supposed to be the same kind of stop.
What advice would you give OM participants about developing their careers?
Being a successful organist is about building bridges and opening yourself up. Our instruments aren’t portable, and that means going out into the world and making connections that expand your experience and advance the art.
I’ve been very fortunate to connect with legends like Johannes Geffert and perform in spaces like Westminster Cathedral. The organ community is tight-knit, and it’s imperative that young performers actively engage with it to create opportunities. The more we all cooperate, the more synergy we can all benefit from—and those are the moments that elevate our profession and advance our careers.
Also, being a keyboard performer of any kind means collaborating with many different musicians in a wide range of settings. At Orvieto Musica, participants in the Organ Intensive program will have the opportunity to work with some of the top emerging string, brass, and vocal performers in the world. It’s really an incredible three-week atmosphere to join. These moments are not only artistically rewarding, but they create invaluable connections OM’s Organ Intensive participants will take with them for the rest of their lives.
I’m thrilled to be a part of Kim’s vision to open the doors of the Duomo at Orvieto to young performers around the world. It’s a wonderful instrument in an incredibly historic Italian city, and I look forward to introducing it to the next generation of talented artists at Orvieto Musica.
Follow Riccardo Bonci on Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify, and find out more about joining him at Orvieto Musica.