Giuseppe Martucci's lifespan roughly corresponds to the latter
half of Giuseppe Verdi's rather longer one. His output might
be considered a bizarro version of his older countryman's oeuvre.
Where Verdi concentrated on composing operas, many of which
remain repertoire staples, Martucci produced a fair amount of
instrumental music: symphonic, chamber, solo piano, a single
song-cycle and no operas at all.
That said, the unsuspecting listener could be forgiven for thinking
that the introduction to the D minor piano concerto - the horns
intoning a call to attention in quiet octaves, followed by gradually
expanding string tremolos - was, rather, one to an operatic
scena out of middle-period Verdi. The passage shortly
thereafter, heralded by octave pizzicatos, fits right into that
scene. The soloist's imposing entrance chords finally dispel
that impression. The give and take between piano and orchestra
as the tempo picks up evinces a Schumann-Mendelssohn influence,
while the second theme and some passages in the development
are Chopinesque in texture, though with more skilfully wrought
orchestral backings.
In the Andante, after an introductory string chorale,
the piano takes over in a style which again suggests Chopin,
with lightly chordal left-hand accompaniment. The faster motion
at 3:28, with the busy piano figurations weaving around various
orchestral melodic strands unexpectedly prefigures Rachmaninov.
The finale begins uneasily, with brief vaulting figures under
quiet, rustling accompaniments. It gradually opens into an agitated
chordal theme on the piano; the movement is dramatic and concisely
argued.
For all the suggestions of more familiar composers, the concerto
as a whole doesn't sound derivative. Martucci subsumes the diverse
stylistic traits and tics into a distinctive voice of his own,
melodic and passionate, encompassing sustained introspection
as well as externalized drama. And the score certainly has persuasive
advocates here. Gesualdo Coggi plays the block chords with deep,
resonant tone - stunningly reproduced by the Naxos engineers
- and brings off the various rippling figurations with dexterous
clarity. He gets first-rate support from Francesco La Vecchia
and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma. The ensemble is strong
in all departments, but the strings, tonally vibrant and trimly
phrased, are particularly beautiful.
The song-cycle of the nineteenth century was primarily a German
and French phenomenon, so Martucci's La canzone dei ricordi
("The Song of Memories") stood as an anomaly. The texts, by
Neapolitan poet Rocco Emanuele Pagliara, are suggestive as the
narrator alternates between vivid memories and present-day ruminations
upon them. While the composer avoided opera, he clearly understood
the voice, fashioning grateful, effective phrases for it. In
the opening meditative song, the orchestral writing is tentative
and a bit pale; after that, Martucci etches more strongly colored
sounds. The tuttis expand and blossom in a way that,
even without heavy brass, foreshadows the splashier palette
and busier textures of Respighi in the twentieth century.
The orchestral playing, once again, is excellent. The strings
handle the quiet opening song with clean assurance, and distil
the concentrated atmosphere of the introduction to Un vago
memorio. In Fior di ginestra, the oboe is full and
expressive, while the succeeding passage for clarinet, horn
and pizzicato strings sounds oddly Neo-classical.
I just wish the singing was better. Silvia Masini's voice, unlike
those of some other current practitioners, sounds authentically
mezzo, with a natural darkness; but it isn't firmly grounded.
She sounds diffuse in that opening song, with some iffy tuning
of the tricky, angular phrases. She improves later on, when
she can sing out more; even so, she pulls away from the voice
for softer effects, turning fluttery on the concluding diminuendo
of Su'l mar la navicella. The singer brings some chest
voice into the lower cadences of Un vago mormorio, but
inefficiently, as if she's not entirely sure how to do it.
The concerto, at least, could hardly be bettered, and it's unlikely
that another account of the song-cycle will become readily available
so this issue can be recommended as it stands. As suggested
earlier, the Naxos engineering is excellent, but I'll pick a
few nits about their production. The pause between the first
two movements of the piano concerto is too brief - another second
or two would have let the end of the first clear properly. The
booklet offers the song texts in Italian only; more irritating,
the Italian program notes, by Marta Marullo, are more detailed
and informative than those in English by Richard Whitehouse,
serviceable though they are!
Stephen Francis Vasta
Editor’s Note: Other versions - now deleted or
possibly hard to track down - include Hyperion,
Claves (CD 50-9807) and, amid a complete orchestral collection,
on Brilliant 93439 or ASV CDDCA408. The works on the Naxos disc
are replicated on ASV CDDCA 690. RB
Reviews of other releases in this series
Volume 1: 8.570929 - Symphony
1
Volume 2: 8.570930 - Symphony
2
Volume 4: 8.570932 - Piano
concerto 2
Gesualdo Coggi (piano); Silvia Pasini (mezzo) 
