Alfredo Casella - Orchestral Music Vol. 1 (Gianandrea Noseda)

Information

Composer: Alfredo Casella

• Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 12
• Scarlattiana, Op. 44

Martin Roscoe, piano

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Date: 2010

Label: Chandos

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Review

Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic finally get their collective act together for this splendid CD of Alfredo Casella’s virtually unknown Second Symphony (1910). The obvious comparison will be to Mahler, whose music Casella admired tremendously at this period, and there are points of similarity: the grotesque march that opens the finale, the tolling bells that open the work, the exuberant writing for brass and percussion, and Casella’s willingness to exploit extremes of register. Just as telling, though, are the reminiscences of Russian music, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin in particular. It’s a wonderful work, incredibly passionate and uninhibited. The organ and pealing bells at the “andante mistico” conclusion provide a most welcome payoff.

Better still, Noseda and the BBC orchestra deliver an extremely exciting performance of this unabashedly exciting work. Its 49-plus minutes whiz by more quickly than you’d ever believe possible. The second-movement scherzo is particularly thrilling, and given the thick scoring it’s remarkable that Noseda and his players prevent the music from ever sounding merely noisy. But then, Casella knows what he’s doing as well. The coupling, Scarlattiana, dates from some 16 years later, and reveals Casella, like Stravinsky, as a committed neo-classicist. Charming, witty, and wholly delightful, the piece is very well played by Martin Roscoe, and colorfully accompanied by Noseda and the band. This vividly engineered production surely deserves a home in your collection. [7/7/2010]

— David Hurwitz

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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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Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964) is an Italian conductor. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory and furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzetti, Myung-Whun Chung and Valery Gergiev. Noseda is currently the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.; Generalmusikdirektor of Zurich Opera; principal guest conductor of the London Symphony; and the music director of the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia. He was also Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 2002 to 2011, and has conducted many recordings for the Chandos label.

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