Monotonic scale phrase is marked by a descending glissando. Monotonic passages are also used in art music for stylistic effect. In Schubert's "Death and the Maiden", the character of Death generally employs monotonic recitation, described by one scholar as depicting "an inanimate being incapable of the lyricism of the living." In "La gazza ladra" (1817), Rossini represents Ninetta's simplicity and innocence with an almost monotone declamation at "A mio nome deh consegna questo anello", whereas in the Wolf's Glen scene of "Der Freischütz" (1821), Weber characterizes the powers of evil by having the invisible spirits sing in monotone, and denies song entirely
Rocco Filippini concerts at the La Scala theatre in Milan, where he has played in recitals with cello and piano, performed the György Ligeti concerto with the Scala Philarmonic Orchestra, and taken part in many chamber music concerts, often in association with Maurizio Pollini, with whom he has performed concert programmes for several jears in Rome, London, Tokyo and New York, and at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and Salzburg festivals. At the Salzburg Festival in 2002 he premièred Fabio Vacchi’s "Tre Veglie", with Anna Caterina Antonacci, accompanied by the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Ivan Fischer. In 1979 he was