Busoni: Works For Cello And Piano

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Cat No: 8555691

Release Date: 04 January 2004

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313569120

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: BUSONI

Description
Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni (1866-1924) Ottorino Respighi(1879-1936)Works for Cello and PianoWhat are the elements in common between Ottorino Respighiand Ferruccio Busoni, apart from the fact that they are both Italian composerswho lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century? At first onewould say that the differences between them are more numerous than thesimilarities; on closer examination of the two composers, however, it ispossible to see some points of contact. A cursory glance at their respectivebiographies reveals initially that both Respighi and Busoni had aninternational musical training that decisively influenced the future course oftheir careers. Respighi, in fact, studied in Bologna with Martucci, but also atSt Petersburg with Rimsky-Korsakov and in Berlin with Bruch; the Italian-GermanBusoni followed regular courses of instruction in Graz, but received advicefrom Boito in Bologna, from Rubinstein and Brahms in Vienna, from Reinecke inLeipzig and from other eminent composers who heard him as an infant prodigy ontour in Europe.Both Respighi and Busoni fought for a revaluation of Italianmusic of the past and for the creation of a national school; as far as Respighiis concerned, his enthusiasm for the glorious Italian sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies is well known, shared also by other composers of the so-called'generation of the 80s', Pizzetti, Malipiero and Casella. Less well known isBusoni's passion for the masterpieces of early Italian polyphony: yet from his correspondencethere often emerge the names of Scarlatti, Marcello, Jommelli, scores of whosemusic he sought to have published. The practice of transcription was alsoshared by both composers: Respighi's works include a notable number ofarrangements of Tartini, Monteverdi, Vivaldi and others. As far as Busoni isconcerned, transcription was second nature to him and he transcribed not onlymusic by Bach but also works of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms and Wagner,and even of his own music, of which there often exist different versions.There remain, naturally, fundamentally different aestheticchoices: the musical language of Respighi remains always tied to the tonalsystem, with a strong tendency towards the revival of ancient Gregorian modes.His instrumental taste shows a debt to Rimsky-Korsakov, but also to Debussy andStrauss. Busoni's mature style, by contrast, goes beyond tonality, touchingfirst on the atonality of Schoenberg, then to find sublimation in 'newclassicism', as he himself defined the stylistic stage he reached in his finalyears. Busoni's use of the orchestra is certainly less attractive than that ofRespighi: here one can distinguish a German background, but treated in a verypersonal way. The works included in the present recording, nevertheless, goback to the early years of the two composers (with the exception of thetranscriptions by Busoni) and so can be heard side by side. The present release starts with Respighi's Adagio convariazioni (1903-1910), w
Tracklisting