Alfredo Casella - Symphony No. 3; Elegia eroica (Francesco La Vecchia)

Information

Composer: Alfredo Casella

1. Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3), Op. 63: I. Allegro mosso
2. Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3), Op. 63: II. Andante molto moderato, quasi adagio
3. Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3), Op. 63: III. Scherzo
4. Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3), Op. 63: IV. Rondo Finale
5. Elegia eroica, Op. 29

Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma
Francesco La Vecchia, conductor

Date: 2011
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572415

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Francesco La Vecchia’s recordings of modern Italian music for Naxos have been impressive, nowhere more so than in his discs dedicated to the finely crafted works of Alfredo Casella. The Third Symphony, written for Chicago, is a late piece (1940), but still an ambitious essay in the grand tradition. It’s beautifully put together, melodically pungent (maybe a touch of Honegger), colorfully scored, but also austere, even severe in places. It’s clearly the work of a mature master. Elegia eroica is a funeral march dating from 1916, a passionate threnody “to the memory of a soldier killed in battle.”

As with the other discs in this series, the performances are wholly convincing, well played and recorded. In the case of the symphony, though, there’s very strong competition, even better engineered, from Alun Francis and the slightly finer WDR Symphony Orchestra on CPO, coupled to the tone poem Italia. La Vecchia does present a legitimate alternate view, of course, with some strikingly different bits of instrumental detail, and a work of this richness ought to be heard in more than one interpretation. So if you’ve been collecting this series, by all means grab this release without qualms.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/casella-symphony-no-3-heroic-elegy
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/July11/casella_8572415.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/Casella_sy3_8572415.htm
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/8572415.html
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.572415&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Symphony-Elegia-Eroica-ALFREDO-CASELLA/dp/B004YJZ8CI

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Alfredo Casella (25 July 1883 in Turin – 5 March 1947 in Rome) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. He entered the Paris Conservatoiry in 1896 to study piano under Louis Diémer and composition under Gabriel Fauré. In this period, Casella developed a deep admiration for Debussy's output, but pursued a more romantic vein in his own writing. His work on Italian Baroque composers put him at the centre of the early 20th Century Neoclassical revival and also deeply influenced his own compositions. The resurrection of Vivaldi's works in the 20th century is mostly thanks to the efforts of Casella.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Casella

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Francesco La Vecchia (born September 10, 1954 in Rome) is an Italian classical conductor. La Vecchia's first instrument was the classical guitar. In 1972, he founded the Boccherini Quintet, and played hundreds of concerts with this ensemble in Europe, America and Asia. He began his career as conductor in 1982, and since then has conducted more than one hundred orchestras around the world. La Vecchia was named artistic and musical director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma in 2002. Specializing in Italian music, he has made dozens of recordings, mostly for the Naxos label.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_La_Vecchia

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