Alfredo Casella - Symphony No. 3; Elegia eroica (Francesco La Vecchia)

Information

Composer: Alfredo Casella

• Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3), Op. 63
• Elegia eroica, Op. 29

Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma

Francesco La Vecchia, conductor

Date: 2011

Label: Naxos

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Review

As presented here, Alfredo Casella’s musical language is imposing, his structures formidable and, in the case of the enormously exciting march-threnody Elegia eroica, “to the memory of a soldier killed in the [First] war”, both powerful and, towards its close, deeply contemplative. But the principal work is the broad-shouldered, 46‑minute Third Symphony that Casella started composing in 1939, a commission from Frederick Stock for the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and truly representative of the conflicts and contradictions that were at the cold heart of Mussolini’s Italy…and of Casella’s attitude to it, as David Gallagher’s perceptive note makes abundantly clear. Here was a man who, although married to a Jewish woman, aligned his thinking with Il Duce and his minions; and, while he did eventually see the error of his thoughts, they took their time changing.

The added irony is that years earlier Casella had been commissioned by Mahler (Jewish, of course) to arrange his Seventh Symphony for piano duet, and you can indeed hear echoes of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony at around 7'28" into Casella’s sizeable finale. The Scherzo is at times a dead ringer for the Scherzo of Mahler’s Sixth or of Shostakovich’s Fifth but even more surprising are the striking premonitions of Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony at around 6'24" into the often beautiful second movement (similarly Casella’s use of the piano). Honegger is another stylistic point of reference, so what we have here is a sort of musical temperature gauge, a gauge that simultaneously clocks the overall mood of the period.

La Vecchia’s Rome performance is pretty good as far as it goes, which isn’t very far at the sensitively scored start of the second movement (solo violin and woodwinds), where the violinist’s intonation is somewhat suspect. Alun Francis has also prepared a very good Casella Third Symphony (CPO, with Italia, Op 11) but one lives in hope that Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic, whose account of the Second Symphony (Chandos, 8/10) was so fine, will in due course grant us their interpretation of the Third. It’s a compelling piece and deserves strong, well-played advocacy; but those who have been investing in the Naxos Casella series certainly need not hold back.

— Rob Cowan

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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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Francesco La Vecchia (born 10 September 1954 in Rome) is an Italian conductor. He studied with his grandfather, began performing at age nine, and later led the Boccherini Quartet. At 23, he founded the Arts Academy of Rome and started his international recording career at 27. In 2002, he became artistic director and resident conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, leading it to international acclaim with tours across major global cities. La Vecchia has conducted in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has recorded extensively, particularly for Naxos, Brilliant Classics and Sony.

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