Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Music for Two Guitars (Duo Pace Poli Cappelli)

Information

Composer: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

• Les guitares bien tempérées, Op. 199: Preludes and Fugues Nos. 1–24
• Fuga elegiaca, Op. 210a
• Sonatina canonica, Op. 196

Duo Pace Poli Cappelli

    Andrea Pace, guitar

    Cristiano Poli Cappelli, guitar

Date: 2014

Label: Brilliant

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Review

Mario Castelnuovo – Tedesco’s music for two guitars  are some of the most important ever written for our instrument, as was all his solo guitar works, of which there are many. Of course he was in that generation that answered the call from Andres Segovia for modern pieces written for the guitar at a time when there was simply not enough. So, he, and Manuel Ponce, Alexander Tansman, Federico Moreno –Torroba, Joan Manen, Joaquin Turina, to name but a very few all wrote works for the guitar that were ground – breaking in so many different ways. However, one of the most important facts was that of that list of composers, none of them played the guitar at all. They all wrote in a style that suited them, and then Segovia, and after that, many others had to edit it to be playable on the guitar, which is one of the reasons why these composers’ music is firstly so fascinating because it sounds literally like no one else’s music, as the guitar writing is so individual, and secondly why all their music is usually so difficult to play. Having had the complete duos of Castelnuovo – Tedesco for a good number of years now, I can state with confidence that the music on this pair of CDs is some of the hardest for me and my duet partner to play and yet is also some of the most wonderful  to try to play!

The 24 Preludes and Fugues that make up Les Guitares Bien Temperees, of course mimic their very idea from Bach’s ground- breaking 2 sets called The Well – Tempered Klavier, where every Prelude and Fugue is in one of the 24 keys. Which of course he wrote after the new system of tuning the  Klavier was invented that enabled all the, until then , strange keys that use more and more flats and sharps , to be played without some of their notes sounding out of tune. Of course with the guitar duets, it is more a case of how rare is it that you find pieces in some of the more advanced sharp and flat keys. The unique nature of this work lies in the composer’s great ability to use at time, very basic ideas, but then  honing them with an almost unparalleled skill to create perfect and very varied scenes that create a very accomplished set of pieces, each so different from its neighbour. This set is not the first to play these of course as I know of at last 5 more , but with Brilliant Classics you know that you are getting a value for money set, and certainly with these players you can sit back and take it as read that the playing will be superb throughout.

The Fugue Elegaica was written after the sudden death of Ida Presti and in its original form was written in Gm , to become a postscript to the ‘24’ , and ending in the same key as No1 began. Interestingly the duo here decide to play it in its original key , and not in the published form as edited by Ron Purcell, which takes it up a tone into Am, but  in the view of the duo, not as mournful, and therefore does nothing to improve it as a completion to the ’24’. I can see what they mean when I compared the two keys on listening to rival performances of it.

The set concludes with the Sonatina Canonica, written for Presti – Lagoya back in 1961, and again shows the composer’s penchant for writing in the Canon form throughout its three movements, but in doing so, turns what some might consider a limiting idea, into a very hugely varied trio of movements , constantly entertaining in every way.

This is a fabulously enjoyable set of very important pieces indeed, by one of the modern era’s most wonderful composers of the guitar, played and recorded superbly by these players. Need I say more? 

— Chris Dumigan

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Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 — 15 March 1968) was an Italian composer. A student of Ildebrando Pizzetti, he gained recognition in the 1920s but was forced to emigrate to the U.S. in 1939 due to Mussolini's anti-Semitic laws. Settling in Hollywood, he composed concertos for piano, violin, cello and guitar, and wrote overtures for 12 Shakespeare plays. He also set Shakespeare's poems and sonnets to music and composed two Shakespearean operas. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's chamber and piano works are noted for their symphonic scope, while his vocal music reflects the melodic tradition of the Italian school.

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Andrea Pace is an Italian guitarist who began his musical education at the Arts Academy in Rome and graduated with top honors from the A. Casella Conservatory in L'Aquila. He trained with renowned maestros, including Stefano Palamidessi, and specialized in concert performance. Recognized as one of the most talented guitarists of his generation, he has won multiple national and international competitions and performed in prestigious venues across Europe. He is also known for his work on film soundtracks, including collaborations with Ennio Morricone and Timothy Brock. He teaches at Civica Scuola Delle Arti in Rome

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Cristiano Poli Cappelli, born in Frosinone in 1974, is a guitarist and educator. After earning a law degree, he studied guitar at the Pescara Conservatoire under Letizia Guerra. He has won numerous national competitions and studied with notable maestros such as Alberto Ponce and Stefano Palamidessi. As both a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed widely in Italy and abroad, often with Trio Chitarristico Ravel. He has played major concertos, including works by Vivaldi and Piazzolla, and contributed to recordings of Bach and Franco Margola. He teaches at Civica Scuola delle Arti in Rome.

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