Casella: Orchestral Works Volume 1

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...this is a remarkable and engaging work in its own right, with some striking features. In particular, the beautiful opening of the final 'Epilogo' is breathtakingly beautiful...the BBC Philharmonic... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2010, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Jun 2010
Catalogue No: CHAN10605
Label: Chandos
Series: Musica Italiana, Casella Orchestral Works
Length: 76 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

31st May 2010

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Casella: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 12

Work length49:30

$12.00

$15.45

$21.00

Gianandrea Noseda, BBC Philharmonic

I. Lento, grave, solenne

Track length12:37

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

II. Allegro molto vivace

Track length8:46

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

III. Adagio, quasi Andante

Track length10:54

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

IV. Finale. Tempo di marcia ben risoluto, con fuoco

Track length10:51

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Epilogo. Adagio mistico

Track length6:22

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Casella: Scarlattiana, Op. 44

Work length27:22

$5.00

$6.50

$8.75

Gianandrea Noseda, BBC Philharmonic, Martin Roscoe

I. Sinfonia. Lento, grave

Track length5:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Minuetto. Allegretto ben moderato e grazioso

Track length6:17

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Capriccio. Allegro vivacissimo ed impetuoso

Track length3:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Pastorale. Andantino dolcemente mosso

Track length5:58

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V. Finale. Lento molto e grave

Track length5:46

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

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Recording of the Week, Alfredo Casella

31st May 2010

Gianandrea Noseda and Francesco La Vecchia offer sterling advocacy for the Italian composer’s first two symphonies, composed in the first decade of the twentieth century and full of ‘imaginative orchestration and dark sonorities’.

As part of the Musica Italiana series, the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda perform two important works by Alfredo Casella, a largely forgotten Italian composer who was actually one of the most important of his generation. Italian composers in the early years of the twentieth century were not much interested in the symphony. Casella, however, was a major exception. On the advice of Giuseppe Martucci, the thirteen-year-old Casella had been sent to the Paris Conservatoire where, alongside outstanding fellow students such as Maurice Ravel and George Enescu, he received the all-round professional training that would not have been available to him in Italy.

He was much influenced in his early piano pieces not only by his composition teacher, Gabriel Fauré, but also by Debussy and Ravel. His next stylistic allegiance, with the Russian Nationalists, was also a product of his Parisian environment, not least by way of the formative friendship with Ravel. But in his passion for the music of Gustav Mahler he was, in French circles at least, more or less on his own. As Mahler was moved to learn when he first met Casella, in Paris in 1909, the young composer knew his symphonies ‘by heart.’ Symphony No. 2 in C minor is dedicated to George Enescu, and here receives its premiere recording. Many examples of themes, harmonic colours, and orchestral sounds derive directly from the music of his hero figure, Mahler, but no one who knows the two composers could ever mistake one for the other. Casella has his own distinctive personality and his own agenda, and his passion turns into exhilarating frenzy.

Drawing from as many as ninety of the hundreds of Scarlatti sonatas available to him, in the neoclassical Scarlattiana, Casella presents an abundance of melody, the work’s general light-heartedness effectively offset by such thoughtful episodes as the matching slow introductions to the opening Sinfonia and the Finale.

These two orchestral works demonstrate Casella’s fascinating tonal language. They are beautifully conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, a long-time champion of Casella’s works.

Reviews

July 2010

...this is a remarkable and engaging work in its own right, with some striking features. In particular, the beautiful opening of the final 'Epilogo' is breathtakingly beautiful...the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda are both committed and convincing advocates in the premiere recording of this complex score.

August 2010

This 50-minute would-be epic is given a splendidly forthright performance by Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic...[in the concerto] Martin Roscoe is a witty, trenchant piano soloist and the Chandos sound brings out all the piquancy of Casella's artfully un-18th century orchestration.

July/August 2010

[Scarlattiana] receives, of course, a glorious and poetic performance, with the added luxury of Martin Roscoe's participation...anyone with more than a passing interest in this fascinating composer needs to have this remarkable disc.

6th August 2013

Under Gianandrea Noseda especially, the BBC Philharmonic is the finest orchestra to have recorded most of these works, and that is frankly no more than Casella deserves.

11th July 2010

Casella’s music isn’t too often heard here, but the BBC Philharmonic and its Italian maestro, Gianandrea Noseda, are trying to make a difference...Mahler is an evident influence, particularly in the fourth movement. Though styled a finale, it is followed by an Epilogo of hushed beauty, building to a massive, affirmative, organ-buttressed close.

13th June 2010

...under Noseda’s guidance there is cohesion, drive and passion, and the playful Scarlattiana (1926) reveals Casella’s spirited allegiance to the clarity and perkiness of neo-classicism.

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Recording of the Week, Alfredo Casella

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