RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Alfredo CASELLA (1883-1947)
Complete piano music
Pavane, Op.1 [5.13]
Variations on a Chaconne, Op.3 [8.13]
Toccata, Op.6 [5.23]
Sarabande, Op.10 [9.54]
Notturino (1909) [8.18]
Berceuse triste, Op.14 [4.16]
Barcarola, Op.15 [5.17]
À la manière de…, Op.17 [15.14]
À la manière de…, Op.17bis [7.32]
Nine pieces, Op.24 [30.10]
Sonatina, Op.28 [11.27]
A notte altra, Op.30 [21.56]
Contrastes, Op.31 [2.17]
Inezie, Op.32 [6.48]
Cocktail Dance (1928) [1.59]
Pezzi infantili, Op.35 [18.55]
2 Canzoni populari italiane, Op.47 [2.42]
2 Ricercari sul name BACH, Op.52 [6.17]
Sinfonia, Arioso and Toccata, Op.59 [23.34]
Ricercare sul name ‘Guido M Gatti’ [1.43]
Six Studies, Op.70 [10.58]
Michele d’Ambrosio (piano)
rec. Villa Aurelia, American Academy in Rome, November 2012 – April 2013
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9281 [3 CDs: 69.29 + 69.59 + 73.12]
Brilliant Classics, once a label which specialised purely in reissues
of licensed material from other companies, has recently branched out into
the promotion of their own recordings. In doing so it has commendably
expanded its catalogue into fields which have been totally neglected by
others. These three extremely well-filled discs do not lay claim to contain
any première recordings but there are certainly items here which
are totally unfamiliar. The whole series of discs is logically laid out
to display the evolution of the composer’s career including three
pieces which — although they do not have opus numbers — are
slotted into the track-listings in what would appear to be their appropriate
chronological places. There are also seven pages of booklet notes by Roberto
Grisley and Anna Calenza (in English only) which – if they do not
cover all the works here – certainly demonstrate the progress of
Casella’s journey through his three distinct stylistic periods.
As might be surmised from their titles, the earlier works here are all
imitations of classical style, although the Valse-Caprice which
shared an opus number with the Op.1 Pavane — and which
has a distinctly more modern title — has now been lost. Roberto
Grisley describes these pieces as the composer “testing his craftsmanship”
and indeed the set of variations on La Folia which constitute
Op.3 are more conscientious than imaginative. Later works, from the Toccata
onwards, show the increasing influence of French impressionism which was
already heralded in the Op.1 Pavane clearly deriving from his
study under Fauré. The beautiful Notturino (not otherwise
currently available) also shows the influence of Mahler, very effectively
echoing the alternating chords from the nocturnal fourth movement of the
latter’s Third Symphony. The first disc concludes with
a series of semi-satirical sketches in the style of various composers:
Wagner, Fauré, Brahms, Debussy, Richard Strauss, Franck, d’Indy
and Ravel. These affectionate parodies point the way towards Casella’s
more experimental period where he consciously moved away from his former
romantic idiom.
That period began with the 1914 Nine pieces, some of which bear
dedications to other composers such as Stravinsky and Pizzetti and demonstrate
the direction in which Casella’s music was moving, although the
influence of Debussy and Ravel remains strong in places. There is also
a definite whiff of Bartók in this music, not only in the insistence
of repeated rhythms but also in the frigid harmonies; at the same time
the writing is not unapproachable or at all contrived. After these pieces
the short Sonatina seems almost like a reversion to Casella’s
earlier style albeit with a slightly more sophisticated and quizzical
feel. On the other hand, A notte altra (CD 2, track 13) is the
only work on these discs which is at all familiar, since Casella arranged
it for piano and orchestra and it has been twice recorded in this form
in recent releases from Naxos and Chandos. The piano version, written
four years earlier, is in no way inferior to its later arrangement, and
is the second-longest work on these discs. The booklet note quotes Casella
as saying “piano technique was extremely heavy work for me”
but here, as elsewhere, the writing sounds thoroughly idiomatic and fits
the instrument like a glove. This CD concludes with two brief Contrasts,
of which the first is a homage to Chopin, but the booklet gives us no
details of either of these pieces or the Inezie and Cocktail
dance which open the third disc. The last of these almost sounds
like a conscious imitation of Satie’s café music –
it is oddly described in the booklet as Cocktail’s dance,
but the title given here seems potentially to be more accurate.
The titles of the pieces which constitute the Pezzi infantili
appear to imply a return to classical models, but the composer described
them as “the ultimate liberation from uncertainties and experiments
and the urge towards a more creative stage that is more developed and
clear.” The percussive elements which featured in the Nine pieces
here give way to a more poised approach, with intimations of Ravel reappearing
in (for example) the Minuet (CD 3, track 12). The same considerations
for clarity also underlie the two Italian folksong arrangements and rather
dull Bach-inspired fantasias, but the following 1936 Sinfonia, Arioso
e Toccata (a piano sonata in all but name) clearly falls into the
ambit of Casella’s final compositional phase. It is a major work,
the longest piece here with three substantial movements, of which the
Arioso is a magnificently impassioned threnody and the Toccata
a virtuosic whirlwind. After this the remaining short pieces are rather
in the nature of chips from the composer’s workbench, works of consolidation
rather than further experimentation. Roberto Grisley recognises that it
is difficult to discern a single precise definition of Casella’s
style, but hits the nail on the head when he describes it as “neo-classical
and typically Italian”, a description that perfectly describes these
last pieces.
The performances by Michele d’Ambrosio are superlative throughout,
demonstrating barnstorming virtuosity, forceful declamation and piquant
delicacy as required; and the recording, unlike some Brilliant Classics
recordings, has plenty of resonance which provides a suitable halo of
sound around the instrument. This is music which well repays investigation,
and this set provides an ideal environment in which to do so. Casella
has suffered from considerable neglect over the years, at least partly
the result of his twenty-year flirtation with Mussolini’s Fascist
regime which caused damage to his reputation after his death — the
booklet notes skirt this issue — but this is music which transcends
political considerations. I was delighted to encounter it, and those interested
in approachable piano music for both listening and performance will be
grateful to Brilliant Classics for making it available in such a comprehensive
issue.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
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