Release Date: 01 November 2003
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313585625
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO
Description
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)Piano MusicThe Italian composer, critic and pianist MarioCastelnuovo-Tedesco derived his family name from the Spanish district ofCastilla Nueva, from which his ancestors had been expelled in 1492, with thescattering of Sephardim throughout the Mediterranean world. Born in Florence in1895, he was introduced to music by his mother and in 1908 entered theCherubini Conservatory in Florence. He completed his piano studies with DelValle de Paz in 1914, and had become a composition pupil of Ildebrando Pizzettitwo years earlier, graduating in 1918. He then studied privately for thediploma in composition at Bologna Conservatory. He owed much to Pizzetti, whowas instrumental in introducing him to leading contemporary composers,including Alfredo Casella, who included Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 1916 Il raggioverde in his piano recitals.In the period between the wars Castelnuovo-Tedescoestablished himself as a pianist, appearing as a soloist, accompanist andparticipant in chamber music, and as a critic for various musical journals. In1920 he won the prize offered by Il pianoforte for the best piano compositionwith his Cantico, Op.19. His compositions were also heard abroad, notably atthe festivals of the ISCM. After the racial legislation of 1938 and with thesupport of Heifetz, Toscanini and Albert Spalding, and with the assurance ofemployment, he moved to America. From 1940 to 1956 he worked for various filmstudios in Hollywood, contributing to some 250 productions. At the same time hecontinued his own work as a composer, with a series of some seventy works ofall kinds, including oratorios and cantatas, songs, operas, concertos, guitarmusic and compositions for the piano. His 1959 opera Il mercante di Venezia(The Merchant of Venice) won the La Scala Concorso internazionale Campari prizeand was given its first performance in Florence in 1961 at the Maggio musicale.His interest in Shakespeare is further suggested by his series of Shakespeareovertures, his Shakespeare songs (Marco Polo 8.223729), and his opera All'swell that ends well. Other works show his wide literary interests, from anopera based on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest to the ballet TheBirthday of the Infanta, music for Pirandello's I giganti della montagna andsettings of Schiller, Keats, Wordsworth, Shelley, Heine and Petrarch. In 1946he had become an American citizen and until his death in 1968 he taught at thethen Los Angeles Conservatory, where his pupils included Henry Mancini, JerryGoldsmith, John T. Williams and Andre Previn.Cipressi, Op.17, later transcribed by the composer fororchestra, is an evocative piece, suggested by the cypress trees at Usigliano,where he spent many summers, staying at the Villa Forti. In 1924 he marriedClara Forti, but the Forti family properties did not survive the depredationsafter 1938. Il raggio verde, Op.9, written in 1916, suggests the influence ofDebussy or Ravel in its musical language. The gently reflective Al
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
