Alfredo Casella; Giorgio Federico Ghedini - Triple Concerto; Concerto dell'albatro (Damian Iorio)

Information

Composer: Alfredo Casella; Giorgio Federico Ghedini

• Casella - Triple Concerto, Op. 56
• Ghedini - Concerto dell'albatro

Emanuela Piemonti, piano

Paolo Ghidoni, violin

Pietro Bosna, cello

Carlo Doglioni Majer, speaker

Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali

Damian Iorio, conductor

Date: 2013

Label: Naxos

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Review

Alfredo Casella is one of my most intriguing ‘finds’ of recent years, and I have Naxos to thank for that. The first two symphonies - with Francesco La Vecchia and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma - combine Mediterranean warmth and effulgence with Mahlerian heft; it’s a yoking of opposites that works surprisingly well. I’ve enjoyed other discs in this series, as well as those in the Gianandrea Noseda/BBC Phil cycle for Chandos. With a few exceptions these scores are robust, accessible and well crafted.

 

Noseda and La Vecchia play this music with a proselytising zeal - always a bonus in ‘rediscovered’ repertoire - although such complete traversals yield a mix of wheat and chaff. Sonics in both are pretty good, but the high-res Chandos download of the Second Symphony and Scarlattiana is in a class of its own. As for Ghedini he’s new to me, so I had no idea what to expect from his 'Albatross Concerto'; the work is scored for violin, cello, piano, speaker and orchestra.

 

The trio features prominently in Casella's Triple Concerto, whose bold introductory timps and brassy fanfares set the tone for what follows. Occasionally the cello and violin are swamped by the over-enthusiastic orchestra, but pianist Emanuela Piemonti redresses the balance with her forceful, muscular presence. The piano part’s glitter and gleam are vaguely Ravelian in character, but otherwise this is raffish street music and it’s played accordingly. The central Adagio has its share of tender moments - the soloists are wonderfully eloquent - so it’s easy to forgive the brasher ones. As for the whirling Rondo it has a reckless charm that makes for a most entertaining, if giddy, ride.

 

At best the collision of over-zealous musicians and an excitable score invites unruliness and, at worst, it flirts with anarchy. Remarkably, this account of the Triple Concerto skirts both. That said, it’s nowhere near Casella’s best work, so I wouldn’t recommend the piece to a newcomer. Those who know and can tolerate the composer’s excesses will be pleased to have it though. I’m less forgiving of the close, larger-than-life recording, which makes the concerto seem blowsier than it actually is.

 

In common with Respighi and Malipiero, Ghedini was steeped in Italian Renaissance and Baroque music - he transcribed much of it - yet for his Concerto dell'albatro he turned to the 19th century and Melville’s Moby-Dick. Cast in five continuous movements, it has a brooding Largo and Andante un poco mosso - violin, cello and piano to the fore - that reveal Ghedini’s painterly skills. The writing has a searching, interior quality that impresses, and the pizzicati and ruminative piano part in the Andante sostenuto are austere without being secco. Also, the piece exhibits a passionate, deep-delving lyricism that’s most engaging.

 

If one’s left with a lingering sense of ‘routine’ after the Casella concerto that’s soon dispelled by Ghedini’s highly individual, ever-changing soundscapes. The playing is just fine, but the balances on this recording are quirky. Indeed, the musicians are almost in one’s lap at times. However, such immediacy does make the propulsive Allegro and Carlo Doglioni Majer’s splendid narration sound even more commanding. It’s all skilfully done, and Ghedini’s colours are so tastefully blended and applied that I found myself listening for a second time, and a third.

 

This is a very decent addition to Naxos’s Casella project - I look forward to a Concerto Romano soon - but it’s the companion piece that’s most welcome; indeed, it’s prompted me to seek out other discs of Ghedini’s music. The playing in these live concerts is rough and ready at times, and the sonics are somewhat variable, but that’s no reason to ignore this release. As for David Gallagher’s liner-notes, they are commendably thorough and well argued.

 

Casella fans will want this concerto; the Ghedini is a real bonus, though.

— Dan Morgan

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Alfredo Casella (25 July 1883 – 5 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. He studied in Paris under Louis Diémer and Gabriel Fauré before returning to Italy in 1914 to teach at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome. From 1927 to 1929, he served as principal conductor of the Boston Pops. Casella played a key role in reviving interest in Antonio Vivaldi's music, notably through organizing the 1939 Vivaldi Week. A major figure in the Neoclassical revival, his own compositions were deeply influenced by earlier Italian music. His notable works include La Giara, Paganiniana, and concertos for various instruments.

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Giorgio Federico Ghedini (11 July 1892 – 25 March 1965) was an Italian composer. Born in Cuneo, he studied in Turin and graduated from the Bologna Conservatory under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911. After a brief conducting career, he dedicated himself to teaching composition at conservatories in Turin, Parma and Milan. His notable students include Marcello and Claudio Abbado, Luciano Berio and Guido Cantelli. A passionate admirer of early music, Ghedini transcribed works by Frescobaldi, Monteverdi, and the Gabrielis. His most famous composition is the Concerto dell'Albatro, among many chamber and vocal works.

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Damian Iorio (born 1972 in London) is a British-Italian conductor. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and Indiana University before training in conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory. He has conducted major international orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and St Petersburg Philharmonic. Iorio served as Music Director of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra (2014–2019) and led the Philharmonic Orchestra of Murmansk. Since 2012, he has directed the UK's National Youth String Orchestra. He has made acclaimed recordings for Naxos, Sony Classics and Warner Classics.

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