Alfredo Casella - Music for Cello and Piano (Andrea Favalessa; Maria Semeraro)

Information

Composer: Alfredo Casella

• Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8
• Cello Sonata No. 2 in C major, Op. 45
• Notturno
• Tarantella

Andrea Favalessa, cello

Maria Semeraro, piano

Date: 2014

Label: Brilliant

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Description

Casella was, if it isn’t a contradiction in terms, a kind of neoclassical Romantic; of sufficient pianistic skill that he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13 and thus perhaps escaped from the pressure to plough the furrow of operatic verismo already so well tilled by his countrymen. Instead he made his mark as a composer of abstract, instrumental music such as these two cello sonatas.

The First Sonata, like his other youthful compositions, reveals various stylistic influences: there are hints of Debussy, Mahler and Strauss, as well as traces of what Casella had learnt from Fauré. Even in these early works, however, the composer’s own personality comes across clearly in the search for what was new and hitherto unexplored ground. The Second Sonata reveals a change in compositional approach. In fact, it bears witness to his interest in a style that he defined as ‘baroque in its monumentality’. With its four movements it is more extensive, with dynamics based on deep contrasts between passages that are passionate and vigorous, and others in which the atmosphere is quietly intimate. The same rhythmic energy returns in the Tarantella, composed in 1929 along with the Notturno for violin and piano, transcribed by Luigi Silva in 1931, and ultimately reworked by Casella for cello and orchestra in 1934.

Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro are young Italian musicians who regularly play together in a fruitful artistic partnership that has won them international recognition and numerous awards.

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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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Andrea Favalessa is an Italian cellist. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory in 2001 and earned a second-level diploma there in 2006. He has collaborated with prestigious ensembles such as the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala and performed as principal cellist with the Accademia della Scala. Favalessa has won many competitions, including first prizes at the Rovere d'Oro and Lorenzo Perosi competitions. As a soloist, he has performed with several orchestras in major Italian venues. He is also a member of the Società Italiana Musica Contemporanea and has premiered and recorded works by contemporary composers.

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Maria Semeraro is an Italian pianist. She graduated from the Conservatory of Pesaro and furthered her studies at the Academy in Imola under Franco Scala. She later continued her advanced studies at the "R. Romanini" Foundation in Brescia. Alongside her musical career, she holds a degree in philosophy, specializing in music philosophy. Semeraro has won many national and international piano competitions and performed as a soloist across Italy and abroad, including in Munich, Amsterdam and Moscow. She has played with major orchestras such as RAI Milan, the Toscanini Orchestra and the Moscow Symphony.

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