Massimo Puca — First Sight: The Quiet Poetry of a First Encounter
EP Review | Nordic Euphony Records | Released 14 August 2026
Three piano waltzes trace the fragile passage from curiosity to connection, transforming the human gaze into a musical meditation on intimacy, individuality and peace.
There are encounters that begin before a single word is spoken. A glance, a moment of recognition, the quiet sensation that another person has entered our world: these fleeting experiences can be difficult to explain, yet they remain among the most deeply human forms of connection. With First Sight, Italian pianist and composer Massimo Puca takes this intimate territory as the starting point for a three-piece piano EP, released on 14 August 2026 via Nordic Euphony Records.
For Piano Revenge MAG, this release is also an opportunity to revisit an artist whose music we had the pleasure of welcoming to Paris earlier this year. On 16 April 2026, Puca performed at the historic Théâtre de l’Île-Saint-Louis as part of the main selection of the second edition of Piano Revenge Festival. Presenting his compositions within an international gathering of pianists and composers, he became part of the community that Piano Revenge continues to bring together around new piano music and independent artistic expression.
His debut EP, First Sight, offers a particularly intimate perspective on his creative world. Conceived around the first encounter between two people through their irises, it unfolds across three waltzes — “Opening Iris”, “Blooming Iris” and “First Sight” — tracing a progression from contemplation and uncertainty towards serenity and connection. Rather than treating the waltz simply as a familiar dance form, Puca uses it as a framework for exploring the delicate movements of an emotional encounter.
From hybrid sound worlds to the acoustic piano
Born in Rome, Massimo Puca began releasing his compositions in 2022. His early work explored hybrid musical characteristics, combining the timbres of different instruments while keeping the piano at the forefront. This initial period of experimentation was followed by a decisive change in the summer of 2024, when he acquired a 1972 acoustic upright piano.
The instrument marked a turning point in his artistic direction. Moving away from an approach centred on digital pianos and virtual instruments, Puca began developing his solo piano repertoire, releasing his first works in this format through Nordic Euphony Records in early 2025. His trajectory reflects an ongoing search for a personal musical language, one increasingly centred on the expressive possibilities of the piano itself.
His compositions soon began reaching audiences far beyond Italy. “Evolving Flowers”, “Firefly Waltz” and “Fading Colors” were added to Apple Music’s Piano Chill editorial playlist, while “Flying Hummingbird” featured on Amazon Music’s Relaxing Piano playlist and was broadcast on CBC Radio One in Canada. According to his biography, his music has surpassed ten million streams worldwide, supported by these international editorial placements.
In March 2026, Puca performed his music live for the first time at Rome’s historic AlexanderPlatz Jazz Club, concluding a concert held by Maestro Paolo Vivaldi. A few weeks later, his appearance at Piano Revenge Festival in Paris marked another step in bringing his compositions to a live audience. His subsequent debut EP represents a new chapter in this development, gathering his artistic interests into a project with a clear conceptual identity.
Nature and the urban environments in which he has lived remain important sources of inspiration for Puca. His music seeks to create a meditative, relaxing space for the listener, and this sensibility finds a distinctive focus in First Sight: rather than looking outwards towards a landscape, the composer turns towards the space between two individuals.
Three waltzes, one encounter
The concept begins with the eye, an extraordinary detail of human individuality. No two irises are identical, and Puca brings this uniqueness into the artistic realm through the EP’s visual identity. Created at Iris Galerie’s Venice location, just steps from the Rialto Bridge, the three cover artworks feature photographs of the irises of the composer and his partner.
This meeting of music and image extends the central idea of the compositions: every person carries an entirely individual world within themselves. Puca’s project also offers a quiet reflection on the value of the tangible and personal in an era when so much of daily experience is mediated by digital representations. His subject is not simply the act of seeing another person, but the possibility of genuinely recognising them.
“Opening Iris” introduces the first stage of this journey. As Puca explains, the opening waltzes inhabit a world that is at once melancholic and meditative, suggesting something unresolved, something not yet fully understood. This ambiguity is essential to the emotional premise. A first encounter rarely arrives with a complete understanding of what it might mean; it begins with curiosity, hesitation and the awareness of a possibility that has yet to take shape.
“Blooming Iris” continues this exploration, its title suggesting a movement towards emergence and gradual revelation. What was initially closed or uncertain begins to open, allowing the encounter to acquire greater emotional definition. Together, the first two pieces establish a narrative in which feeling precedes certainty.
The concluding composition, “First Sight”, brings the narrative to its destination. Puca describes this final waltz as the merging of two irises as they discover one another for the first time. Its defining qualities are serenity and brightness, reflecting a state of calm achieved both musically and harmonically.
The waltz provides a natural framework for this progression. Its recurring motion can suggest both stability and movement, while its circular character lends itself to a narrative that develops through gradual transformation rather than dramatic declarations. Within the conceptual world of First Sight, the form becomes a way of approaching intimacy indirectly, allowing the listener to inhabit a feeling rather than having it explicitly explained.
A personal language for the piano
The transition towards acoustic piano is an important part of the context surrounding First Sight. The EP’s subject is rooted in the singularity of individual experience, and its artistic concept places particular value on the tangible and the personal. The solo piano offers a natural setting for this intimate scale of expression.
The release also follows a period of growing recognition for Puca’s work. The inclusion of “Blooming Iris”, released ahead of the EP, in Apple Music’s Keep Calm editorial playlist introduced another composition from the project to an international audience. Yet First Sight is notable for bringing its three pieces together within a single narrative, connected not merely by instrumentation but by a shared emotional and visual idea.
Its brevity is part of its appeal. Across three compositions, Puca proposes a concentrated experience with a beginning, a development and an ending. The EP does not require an elaborate narrative to communicate its intention. Instead, its titles, imagery and emotional progression create a coherent framework through which the listener can consider the meaning of a first encounter.
To recognise another person is to acknowledge both connection and difference: the possibility of intimacy without the loss of individuality. The iris becomes a fitting symbol for this balance, unique in every person yet capable of becoming the focus of a shared moment.
Puca’s debut EP ultimately invites us to consider how much can exist within a seemingly simple encounter. Before conversation, before explanation, there is the possibility of recognition — and, perhaps, of finding a sense of calm in the presence of someone new.
For Piano Revenge MAG, First Sight also represents the continuation of a connection that began on stage in Paris. Welcoming Massimo Puca to the main selection of our festival’s second edition gave us the opportunity to encounter his music in a live setting; this new release offers a further perspective on the composer’s evolving artistic identity.
With First Sight, Massimo Puca offers a focused statement about individuality, intimacy and the quiet beauty of connection. Three waltzes, two irises, one encounter: a modest framework for a subject that remains inexhaustible — the moment another person comes into view, and the world seems, briefly, to become a little more peaceful.
Editor’s Note
At Piano Revenge MAG, we believe that every musical release opens a conversation between the artist, the listener and the ideas that inspire the music. This review draws on Massimo Puca’s biography and his own reflections on the concept behind First Sight, offering an introduction to the artistic vision that shapes the EP.
We look forward to continuing to explore his work through further listening, discovering the finer details of his pianistic language, harmonic choices and musical interpretation. As Massimo continues to develop his artistic voice, we hope this review encourages readers to discover First Sight for themselves and experience the personal world he brings to the piano.
Listen to First Sight by Massimo Puca on Spotify:
