Regondi: Airs Varies / Reverie, Op. 19 / Mertz: Bardenklange, Op. 13

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Cat No: 8555285

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Release Date: 01 May 2005

Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313528523

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: REGONDI

Description
Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856)If the Romantic movement came as a surprise, it wasonly because its immediate predecessor, the Classicalperiod, was seen as a natural development of theBaroque period, but this new development in musicwas a strong reaction, a swing in another direction.Both Mertz and Regondi carried on the composerperformertradition of Sor and Giuliani a generationbefore, as did their contemporaries Coste and Ferranti.It was considered the norm. Not until the twentiethcentury, when Segovia, Bream and others approachedother composers instead of writing their own music,did guitarists have a broad-based repertoire to drawfrom. Another factor in the guitar's slow developmentwas its denial by the teaching academies of the time.The keybound nature of its fingerboard meant that onlya few bright talents found the tonal freedom, the abilityto change key instantaneously, that pianists havealways taken for granted.What the guitar could do, however, it did well.Regondi and Mertz found inspiration in the pianomusic of Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann, andadapted elements of their music into their own creativeprocesses. After the huge wave of guitar popularity inthe early part of the nineteenth century had subsided,the talents of Regondi and Mertz shine like lighthousesover a dark sea.Giulio Regondi had a disturbed early life. HisGerman mother seems to have vanished early in hischildhood, and it was his Italian father (or stepfather,by some accounts) who brought him up and, a guitaristhimself, presumably gave him his first lessons on theguitar. Teaching, however, gave way to exploitation,and when this manipulator disappeared with the youngprodigy's earnings, Giulio had a hard time of it. Thehelp of friends and his own resilience ensured survival,though we shall never know how far this early traumacontributed to his untimely death at the age of fiftyfrom a painful cancer.Unlike many child prodigies, Regondi maturedinto an artist of poetic genius. His reputation increasedaccordingly. In childhood he had met and played inconcert with the guitarist Catherine Josepha Pelzer(Madame Sidney Pratten). Fernando Sor dedicatedSouvenir d'Amitie, Op.46, to him, and he was to giveconcerts with musicians such as the pianist IgnazMoscheles, the singer Maria Malibran and the pianistClara Schumann, all musicians at the top of theirprofession.Regondi's guitar compositions reflect not only hisgentle nature but also the high romanticism of hisperiod. The discovery by Matanya Ophee of 10 Etudes,previously thought to be lost, compelled a revaluationof Regondi's contribution. The two Airs Varies, Op.22,and Op.23, can only reinforce the new respect thatensued. Each begins with a slow introduction,followed by an Andante theme, slightly operatic incharacter, after which come a number of variations(four in Op.22, five in Op.23) that show off theresources of the instrument: brilliant passages ofdemisemiquavers (32nd notes), a minor-key tremolo,consec
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