This Newton Classics release is a reissue, repackaged with new
notes, of two CDs that originally appeared separately in the
1990s on the Italian label Rivo Alto.
Even those intimately familiar with Donizetti's famous bel
canto operas may not be aware that he had an older brother
Giuseppe, who was also a composer. Nor, more germanely, that
Gaetano wrote a huge amount of music that was not operatic:
symphonies, string quartets, cantatas, lieder, piano pieces
and sundry other works. Even the Donizetti
Society appears not to realise this, as their index of his
works gives only the operas! Some of this other music has been
recorded, but surprisingly little for a composer of Donizetti's
stature.
As far as piano music was concerned, Donizetti wrote much of
it to take advantage of the burgeoning popularity of the new
pianoforte; by the time of his death it had established itself
as the focal point of the middle-class household and amateur
music-making. Rossini's own Sins of Old Age are reasonably
familiar to modern audiences, but the closest most pianophiles
will likely come to Donizetti on the piano is through Liszt's
brilliant fantasies on themes from some of his operas - as in
this quite recent Naxos
recording.
The seven Sinfonias on CD 1 are not the piano reductions of
actual opera overtures they may at first glance seem to be,
but they could certainly have been employed as such. Dating
probably from the mid- or late-1810s, they all have the typical
slow introduction - often with some 'ta-dah!' chords for effect
- followed by a lively development and dénouement. There is
some terrifically exciting piano playing here from Elisabetta
Dessì. The four Waltzes that follow are more fairly described
as salon pieces, but despite their brevity Donizetti still manages
to coax a few good tunes out of them, any of which would slip
seamlessly into any of his operas. The track listing numbers
some of the Sinfonias and Waltzes, but without indicating on
what basis. New Grove does number one or two pieces, but not
the same ones.
The second CD contains a selection of Donizetti's works for
four hands. The Sonatas are thought to date from around the
same time or slightly later than the Sinfonias. These too are
clearly for domestic use, the second pair of hands more likely
taking some of the workload rather than doubling it - which
is not to detract from the attractiveness of the music or indeed
the teamwork in this recording between Franco Calabretto and
Eddi de Nadai, the latter better known these days as an opera
conductor. The Sonatas too are littered with operatic devices
that give the pieces a sense of drama, at least as experienced
in bel canto. In his notes, pianist/critic Jed Distler describes
the A major Sonata, for example, as lacking only "words,
a chorus, orchestra and scenery; it sounds like a first-act
finale."
On the evidence of these discs, Donizetti was a pianist with
an intelligent understanding of idiom, imbuing his works with
a sense of spaciousness, approachability and variety. When coupled
with his irrepressible ability to conjure catchy melodies out
of thin air, and the occasional something different - the uncheery
Marcia Lugubre, the quirky, ironically-titled Solita
Suonata ('Usual Sonata') and the full-blown, three-movement
Classical Sonata in D that opens the second disc - the result
is a double CD of great geniality that should appeal to music-lovers
of all persuasions.
Sound quality is good, especially taking account of the age
of these recordings. The new English-German-French booklet notes
give an appreciative, fairly detailed account of the music.
As is often the case in these Newton re-releases, performer
biographies are rather brazenly conspicuous by their total absence.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Elisabetta Dessì (piano)