Giuseppe Martucci - Complete Music for Cello & Piano (Roberto Trainini; Massimiliano Ferrati)

Information

Composer: Giuseppe Martucci

• Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 52
• Tre Pezzi, Op. 69
• Due Romanze, Op. 72
• Melodia, Op. 71: Romanza. Allegretto (Transcribed by Martucci)

Roberto Trainini, cello

Massimiliano Ferrati, piano

Date: 2014

Label: Brilliant

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Description

This collection brings together the chamber output of prolific and varied composer Giuseppe Martucci. The pieces on this disc span roughly ten years of his career, the earliest of which – the Sonata in F sharp minor Op.52 – was composed when Martucci was just 24. Thanks in part to his exploration of Neopoliatan music salons, however, the work nevertheless has a distinct richness and maturity to go alongside the young composer’s creativity. These qualities only become more pronounced as we are taken to Tre Pezzi Op.69, a trio of pieces for the piano and cello that are ‘among the foremost chamber works of the entire late 1800s’, and which Martucci was later to transcribe for orchestra. So significant was this trio that Martucci continued to write the chamber music of which he was so fond throughout his career, first at the urging of his publishers and later as a refuge from more demanding compositions. The pieces that emerged from this – the Due Romanze and Melodia Op.71 (later transcribed into a Romanza) – make up the latter half of the disc.

Having won several prizes in cello competitions all over the world, acclaimed Italian cellist Roberto Trainini now appears regularly as a soloist in as many as ten countries. He is joined on this recording by fellow countryman Massimiliano Ferrati, who has been described as ‘one of the most impressive Italian musicians of his generation’.

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Giuseppe Martucci (6 January 1856 – 1 June 1909) was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. A prodigy from Capua, he studied at the Naples Conservatory from age 11 and was trained in composition by Paolo Serrao. His international career began with a European tour in 1875. Martucci held teaching positions in Naples and Bologna, and became director of the Royal Conservatory in Naples in 1902. He dedicated his entire career to absolute music, which was notable among Italian composers of his era. His works include instrumental music, songs, and the oratorio Samuel, but no operas.

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Roberto Trainini began studying at age 10, and later trained with renowned teachers including Radu Aldulescu, Wolfgang Mehlhorn, Michel Strauss and Steven Isserlis. A prizewinner at major international competitions (Markneukirchen, Belgrade, Rome, Hamburg), he has served as principal cellist with the Lüneburg Opera and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Now an international soloist, he performs across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Trainini is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Bozen and the Academia de Arte de Florencia in Mexico City. He plays a custom 2017 cello by Alessandro Ciciliati.

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Massimiliano Ferrati is an Italian pianist. A graduate of the "A. Buzzolla" Conservatory in Adria, he further honed his skills with renowned teachers such as Konstantin Bogino, Paul Badura-Skoda and Sergio Perticaroli. He has won major awards, including the Grand Prix at the Rina Sala Gallo Competition and a Bronze Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition. Ferrati has performed internationally at prestigious venues and with leading orchestras. He is also a dedicated chamber musician, recording artist, and teacher. He currently serves as a piano professor at the "E. F. Dall'Abaco" Conservatory in Verona.

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