Casella: Orchestral Works

Opis

Casella: Orchestral WorksOpis:Product Description This is the third volume in our survey of orchestral works by Alfredo Casella, which forms part of the ongoing Italian Music series with the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda. Both the two previous volumes have been very well received by reviewers and the buying public alike, with David A. McConnell of MusicWeb International commenting: I am once again dumbstruck by how engaging and wonderful this music is. The orchestra plays its collective heart out, and the Chandos recording is stunning in its realism and impact.

Casella was a fervent Italian patriot, as his Symphonic Rhapsody Italia so aptly demonstrates. In this one-movement work, the composer focuses on just two contrasting destinations in Italy: Sicily impoverished, sun scorched, and superstitious; and Naples bustling and carefree. Like Richard Strauss before him, in Aus Italien of 1886, Casella makes clever use of folk tunes, which he found in Favaras Canti della terra e del mare di Sicilia. Unlike Strauss, though, Casella knew that Funiculì funiculà was not in fact a true folksong, but rather the work of the composer Luigi Denza, and in acknowledging this managed to avoid the copyright troubles that Strauss got into over its usage. It was through his admiration for Stravinsky that Casella later found neoclassicism, a style which is strongly evident in the driving rhythms, tunefulness, and colourful orchestration of the third Symphony. The work was commissioned to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and it premiered to great acclaim in March 1941. Later it took Dresden and Vienna by storm, where it was conducted by the composer himself and Wilhelm Furtwängler, respectively. Stravinskys influence is present also in the final work on this disc: Introduzione, Corale e Marcia for large orchestral forces. Structurally it may derive from César Francks Prélude, choral et fugue and Prélude, aria et final, but Stravinsky is there too, in the stylistic inspiration for the main theme of the Introduzione in particular, and also within the melodic material and tempo changes in the concluding Marcia.

Review Gianandrea Noseda's recording of Casella's Third Symphony was made following an unforgettable live performance in Manchester last November. Written in 1940, it reflects Casella's disillusionment with fascism, of which he was initially supportive. Stylistically, it maintains a precarious balance between Stravinskyan neoclassicism and Mahlerian complexity, though there are immense ambiguities of tone, reminiscent of Shostakovich, in the spectral development of the first movement, the thudding scherzo and the garish triumphalism of the finale. The other two works, though less successful, are still striking. Italia (1910), wonderful if bizarre, prefaces an exuberant tarantella with a brooding depiction of the appalling conditions faced by Italy's proletariat. Introduzione, Corale e Marcia (1931/1935) exudes a disquieting military chill. The performances are exceptional: even by their own standards, Noseda and theBBC Philharmonic have done nothing finer. ***** --Guardian, 13/06/13Those who have been following Noseda's Casella series will be keen to add this disc to the collection; for anybody who has not so far been tempted, this is a good place to start. --Telegraph, 20/06/13Good news: Vol 3 in Chandos Casella series effortlessly maintains the exhalted artistic and technical standards of both its predecessors. Gianandrea Noseada encourages the BBC Phiharmonic to give of their considerable best throughout(the exuberant yet marvellously controlled orchestral playing towards the close of Italia really does raise the roof). The Chandos sound, too, is demonstration-worthy in its sumptuous realism and intrepidly wide dynamic range. A very strong recommendation. GRAMOPHONE CHOICE. --Gramophone, August'13Any Casellian should rush to acquire this excellently performed, beautifully recorded disc. --Autor:BBC PhilharmonicNośnik:Audio CDPłyt:Język: Data wydania: 2013Waga: 0.18 gramWysokość: 0.6 cmSzerokość: 5 cmDługość: 5.6 cmUWAGA: Kupując produkt na tej aukcji zgadzasz się na wydłużony termin realizacji wysyłki (10-14 dni roboczych). Podany towar pochodzi z zagranicznego magazynu, stąd wydłużony czas realizacji który podany jest obok.