Giorgio Federico Ghedini - Violin Sonatas (Emy Bernecoli; Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi)

Information

Composer: Giorgio Federico Ghedini

• Bizzarria
• Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major
• 2 Poemi
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major

Emy Bernecoli, violin

Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi, piano

Date: 2013

Label: Naxos

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Review

Following up his two-volume survey for Naxos of Ghedini’s complete piano music, Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi and his duo partner Emy Bernecoli now turn to this undervalued composer’s works for violin and piano, which include three world premiere recordings. The opening Bizzarria is a nearly-four-minute lyrical vignette featuring subtle neo-impressionistic chords and lovely long sustained passages using harmonics. A newly unearthed three-movement Sonata in A major (1918) easily holds its own in the company of Respighi’s better-known work in the same genre, especially in the imaginative, unclichéd use of pentatonic phrases and runs, and the beautiful slow movement’s almost Franckian long-lined restraint. The Due Poemi are dark, introspective works, where darting, rhapsodic violin lines contrast with the often low-lying, chord-based piano parts. In the second of the two pieces, the piano takes up the main melody in an agitated central section featuring obsessive repeated-note figures. Should these works enter the repertory, prospective performers will find themselves having to measure up to the Bianchi/Bernecoli duo’s impassioned, technically polished and rhythmically rock-solid interpretations.

They offer a more austere, dynamically contrasted and modernist take on Ghedini’s E flat major Sonata than in an earlier recording, where Franco Gulli’s warm, perpetually singing tone in the finale contrasts with Bernecoli’s far more restrained and specific application of vibrato. Superb recorded sound and informative annotations by Flavio Menardi Noguera further enhance an unusual, welcome and valuable disc. And let’s hope that Naxos has further plans for these gifted and fervently committed musicians.

— Jed Distler

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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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Emy Bernecoli (born 1983) is an Italian violinist. After earning top honors in violin studies at the Conservatory of Adria, she specialized with Alfonso Fedi and later with Pavel Vernikov, Mariana Sirbu, and Domenico Nordio. She completed advanced studies in chamber music at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Bernecoli has performed with leading orchestras across Italy and collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, and Daniel Barenboim. Her recordings for Naxos and Concerto Classics are acclaimed for reviving neglected Italian works. She now teaches at the Buzzolla Conservatory in Adria.

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Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi is a pianist and composer who studied under Bruno Canino and further specialized in chamber music with mentors like Franco Rossi and the Trio di Trieste. He also studied composition with Vittorio Fellegara and attended a masterclass by György Ligeti. Bianchi performs internationally at prestigious festivals and has collaborated with notable musicians and ensembles. He is known for tackling technically demanding and rarely performed works, including the complete Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies. A skilled improviser, he also collaborates frequently with Italian jazz artists.

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