Although it was never really absent from the catalogue,
Petrassi's music has still to receive its proper due. Some of you may
remember that a number of his works were recorded by Fonit Cetra and
released on the Italia label during the LP era. These discs included
the complete concertos for orchestra. These were later released as a
CD boxed set (
review)
a few years ago whereas a new set was issued on Stradivarius which I
have not heard so far. In the meantime Stradivarius also released a
couple of CDs with works from different periods of Petrassi's long creative
life. The latest Stradivarius instalment contains three comparatively
early works as does this brand new Chandos disc.
Petrassi's early music was clearly under the influence of Neo-classicism
as well as of Stravinsky. This is to be heard fairly clearly at the
outset of the large-scale
Magnificat which overtly echoes Neo-classical
and baroque models. However, the earliest work here is the quite impressive
Salmo IX for mixed chorus, string orchestra, brass, percussion
and two pianos. The music exudes a well-meant archaism that to a certain
extent paves the way for what may be one of Petrassi's greatest works
of that period, the powerful
Coro di Morti.
Salmo IX is
laid-out in two parts of roughly the same length. The music moves forwards
with a quite remarkable assurance and sense of purpose, full of virile
choral and instrumental writing. Just listen to the very opening of
the work and you will understand what I mean. There is no let-up of
tension and the music builds to some imperious climaxes. Not a single
note is wasted in this often opulent, bright-sounding work. For curiosity's
sake there exists another version of this work: a live recording made
in 1962 conducted by the composer. It was once available on Datum DAT
90001 which may no longer be available. It is nevertheless well worth
looking for because the three works recorded are all conducted by Petrassi:
Coro di Morti and
Quattro Inni Sacri.
Composed a few years later, the
Magnificat for soprano, chorus
and orchestra also displays a number of characteristics already noted
in
Salmo IX, especially the acknowledged influence of Stravinsky
in his Neo-classical mode. Petrassi curiously mentions
Oedipus Rex
which is not a sacred work whereas the
Symphony of Psalms would
be a better model both for
Salmo IX and the
Magnificat.
However, Petrassi is an Italian composer and, as such, does not hide
his feelings behind some façade as Stravinsky did. He cannot
help but feel involved in his settings of these liturgical texts and
the
Magnificat adds a further, almost operatic dimension, were
it only in the use of a
soprano leggero. The main difference
between the
Magnificat and
Salmo IX lies in the fact that
the former is set in a much more episodic manner and one at times misses
a clearly defined line; this at the expense of a global approach to
the text. This said, the
Magnificat is a quite beautiful piece
that deserves to be heard more often and that should appeal to anyone
with a liking for, say, Poulenc's
Gloria and
Stabat Mater.
With his exact contemporary Luigi Dallapiccola, Petrassi was an important
personality in the history of Italian music in the 20
th century.
He was probably somewhat more eclectic than Dallapiccola who adopted
dodecaphony quite early in his career whereas Petrassi rather toyed
with it much later in his life. It is nice, then to see new recordings
of their music being released over the last few years. Chandos has already
done their share in releasing two Dallapiccola discs (
Volume 1 ~
Volume 2)
… so far. Now comes this superb release that usefully fills some
gaps in Petrassi's discography. I keep my fingers crossed that more
will be done for these significant composers whose music definitely
deserves wider exposure.
These performances are just superb and so is the recording. I most sincerely
hope that this extremely welcome release will not remain a “one
shot” and that further volumes will appear in due course.
Hubert Culot
