Luca Turilli

Luca Turilli
Luca Turilli
	Turilli in 2019
Background information
Born	5 March 1972 (age 52); Trieste, Italy
Genres	Symphonic power metal; progressive metal; electronica; pop; contemporary classical music;
Occupations	Musician; composer; arranger; record producer;
Instruments	Guitar; keyboards; piano;
Years active	1993–present
Formerly of	Rhapsody of Fire; Turilli / Lione Rhapsody; Luca Turilli's Rhapsody; Luca Turilli's Dreamquest;

Luca Turilli (born 5 March 1972)^[1] is an Italian composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist constantly engaged in various musical projects, ranging from trance and electronic music of his first compositions to symphonic metal inspired by the world of soundtracks and also to modern pop and piano compositions of his current productions. He is one of the founders of the symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, later called Rhapsody of Fire,^[1] for which he composed and arranged all music with his colleague Alex Staropoli from 1997 until 2011.

In the early 2000s, he also worked on a trilogy of solo albums and released one album under the name of Luca Turilli's Dreamquest, a symphonic metal / rock project combined with electro pop elements he worked on alongside Dominique Leurquin.^[2] After his split from Rhapsody of Fire, he released three more albums under the name Luca Turilli's Rhapsody and one under the name Turilli / Lione Rhapsody. Though his lyrics in Rhapsody of Fire dealt with epics, sword and sorcery high fantasy, namely a saga of his own design, the lyrics of his later albums speak mainly about science, metaphysics, psychology, anthropology and are generally related with the mysteries of life: Turilli's greatest passion after what he started experiencing thanks to his long-term yoga and meditation practices.^[3]

In 2020, with the piano being one of his favorite instruments, he announced the release of his debut piano album, in the tradition of artists like Yann Tiersen, Ludovico Einaudi and Yiruma.^[3]

Early life

Turilli was born in Trieste, Venezia Giulia, Italy. His father was a cello player who died when Turilli was only two years old. He inherited his passion for classical music, and at 16 years old, he started playing guitar. In 1993, Turilli survived cancer at age 21.^[4] At the age of 22, he started playing piano.

Career

In 1993, Turilli founded the band Thundercross, which was renamed Rhapsody after releasing the first demo,^[5] and renamed once again to Rhapsody of Fire for trademark reasons in 2006.

In 2008, Turilli began an online guitar course titled Luca Turilli's Neoclassical Revelation which takes its name from his neoclassical playing style.^[6]

In August 2011, some time after releasing the last album related with the heroic-fantasy saga on which all the lyrics and music of Rhapsody / Rhapsody of Fire were based until then, Turilli and Staropoli proceeded to a friendly split. Alex agreed to go on as Rhapsody of Fire, while Turilli decided to move on as Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, adding his name on top of the logo because of trademark reasons and old legal settlements. In 2015, after releasing the debut album entitled Ascending to Infinity, the record company Nuclear Blast released the one defined by Turilli as one of the most important albums of his career: Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus. One year later the same album was released under the title Prometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic and Live. That album, mixed by producer/mixing engineer Chris Heil (David Bowie, Bryan Adams), was the first one in music history to be mixed in Dolby Atmos and its music was used by Dolby and Yamaha to promote Dolby Atmos technology worldwide.^[3]

From November 2016 to March 2018, Turilli and his former bandmates Fabio Lione and Alex Holzwarth who in the meantime had also left Rhapsody of Fire, gathered to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary by playing their entire best-selling album Symphony of Enchanted Lands in a tour called the "20th Anniversary Farewell Tour". With the success of the farewell tour, it convinced Turilli and Fabio to go on with Rhapsody, although both had different artistic plans in mind. For legal reasons the new band was called Turilli / Lione Rhapsody. Both agreed to such plan and to use the same band name only if they could bring something really new to the table, combining their typical symphonic metal approach with all the modern music they like to listen to nowadays, evolving the sound, the image and the lyrical concept of the band to new horizons. To make this more than clear they agreed to entitle the album Zero Gravity (Rebirth and Evolution) and filled it with what they both love: vocal interludes à la Queen, progressive elements à la Dream Theater, electronic, ethnic music and more. In both bands, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody and Turilli / Lione Rhapsody, Turilli is the only composer of all music and lyrics, orchestral arrangements and in addition to guitars he also played all the keyboard parts.

In early 2020, Turilli stated in an interview with Steinberg that he feels the constant need to evolve and explore the world of music by creating new projects, finding new artistic goals and stimulations. He is currently working on the debut album of his new band presenting a modern pop/rock sound in the style of some of his actual favorite artists like Adele and bands like Muse and Imagine Dragons, enriched by electronic, ethnic music and all those symphonic elements which are now a real trademark in his discography. Turilli / Lione Rhapsody later disbanded in February 2023 following a final tour in Latin America, announcing that they would be "closing the chapter of their career for good".^[7]

Playing style

Early in his career, Turilli was influenced by guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Marty Friedman and especially Jason Becker who is considered by him today as the greatest guitarist ever. His lead playing often includes extensive use of sweep picked arpeggios, tremolo picking, classically influenced phrases, and scales such as aeolian, harmonic minor, phrygian, locrian, and melodic minor. In his latest albums, he introduced new ethnic elements such as Hirajoshi and Pentatonic scales. As a pianist, his main influences are Romantic pianists like Chopin and contemporary composers such as Ludovico Einaudi, Yann Tiersen, Yiruma and Philip Glass.