Wolf-Ferrari is famous for his operatic works in which he invented a new idiom by transplanting 18th-century Venetian culture into the 20th century. But almost all of the composer’s orchestral music dates from his final years and occupies a different expressive realm. The Suite veneziana resonates with melancholy, and the Triptychon is a contemplative, passionate masterpiece of orchestration. Subtle use of counterpoint transforms the Divertimento into a playful exploration of themes, while Arabesken pays tribute to an old friend, the Venetian painter Ettore Tito (1859–1941). His own elegantly simple melody, known as ‘Tito’s theme’, is turned by Wolf-Ferrari into a sequence of sumptuous orchestral variations culminating in a powerful fugue.

With a repertoire of some 70 operas, Friedrich Haider has appeared at leading European opera houses in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Venice. In 2006 he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Rigoletto. He has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic and the Camerata Salzburg, among others. From 2004 to 2010 he was principal conductor of the Oviedo Filarmonía, and in 2017 he was appointed chief conductor of the Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense, Poland’s most renowned period instrument orchestra.

Friedrich Haider is an ardent champion of the music of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. He has recorded the composer’s complete orchestral works, his a cappella choral works, Geistliches Mysterium ‘Talitha Kumi’, and the operas Il segreto di Susanna and I gioielli della Madonna.

Haider and the Oviedo Filarmonía’s recording of the Opera Overtures and Intermezzi (8573582) was praised by American Record Guide: ‘The performances are outstanding. The Oviedo strings are particularly distinguished by their rich tone and good ensemble, even in pizzicato passages.’

Also available are recordings of Wolf-Ferrari’s Wind Concertinos (8572921) performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, in which Fanfare wrote: ‘This music is pure delight! These three works are tuneful, well constructed, and concisely developed solo vehicles for instruments that rarely get the spotlight to themselves.’ The Violin Sonatas were released on Naxos 8574297.