Gian Francesco Malipiero - Gabrieliana; Madrigali; Serenata (Marzio Conti)

Information

Composer: Gian Francesco Malipiero

• (01-04) Gabrieliana
• (05) Serenata per Fagotto e 10 strumenti
• (06-09) Madrigali - Interpretazioni Sinfoniche
• (10-14) 5 Favole per Voce e Piccola Orchestra
• (15-21) Sette Canzonette Veneziane

Damiana Pinti, mezzo-soprano (10-14)
Paolo Carlini, bassoon (5)
Camerata Strumente "Città di Prato"
Marzio Conti, conductor

Date: 2009
Label: cpo

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 7 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

These are good performances of music by a wildly inconsistent composer. Stylistically, Malipiero (1882-1973) was all over the place. Gabrieliana, obviously, is an arrangement of music by Gabrieli; the Madrigali are arrangements of vocal works by Monteverdi (from Book VII of his madrigals). The Serenata manages to be cute and quirky without a single memorable melodic idea, while both the 5 Favole (fables) and the Venetian songs belong to the composer’s late, almost atonal style. The latter work even begins with a 12-note row, though Malipiero doesn’t do anything further with it (he was a big fan of Schoenberg, evidently).

The performances, as mentioned, are quite satisfying. Mezzo-soprano Damiana Pinti has an attractive voice, and she uses it effectively to characterize the text. Bassoonist Paolo Carlini plays quite well, though he’s too closely miked. You really never can get far enough away from a solo bassoon. The ensemble handles the music’s loony range of styles with aplomb, and conductor Marzio Conti leads them with skill and affection. The rating reflects the quality of the works themselves rather more than the caliber of the performances as such. It’s your call.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

Another review:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/May10/malipiero_777_322-2_bbr.htm

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Gian Francesco Malipiero (18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Malipiero studied mostly with Marco Enrico Bossi. In 1913, Malipiero moved to Paris, where he attended the première of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, and after that, repudiated almost all the compositions he had written up to that time. Malipiero had an ambivalent attitude towards the Austro-German musical tradition, and was strongly critical of sonata form. His orchestral works include seventeen compositions he called symphonies, of which however only eleven are numbered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Francesco_Malipiero

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Marzio Conti (born 22 May 1960 in Florence) is an Italian conductor and flautist. He began his career as a flautist and made his debut as a soloist with I Solisti Veneti at the Salzburg Festival in 1981. He then dedicated himself entirely to conducting. Conti was principal conductor of the Turin Philharmonic (2001-2005), and is currently holding the posts at the Orquestra Nacional of Andorra and the Oviedo Filarmonia (since 2011). Conti has recorded Warner International, Naxos Records, Chandos Records, Real Sound Records, Classic Produktion Osnabrück and Brilliant Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzio_Conti
http://www.marzioconti.com

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