By the sound of the excerpts available here...
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/news.php (http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/news.php)
...the two early symphonies of Alfredo Casella will make for really exciting listening (No.1 on Naxos, No.2 on Chandos).
Interesting releases.
I have each of the works with which the symphonies are coupled, but I guess I'll have to double up.
CPO released a Sinfonia per orchestra, Op.63 - which is Casella's Third.
It looks like Naxos also has the 2nd symphony pending according to this: http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572414 (http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572414) .
I believe Naxos plans to do all four of Casella's symphonies.
This sort of duplication is wasteful, isn't it? - although comparisons can be fascinating. The Naxos version of No.2 should be out in July.
Isn't he the one who composed a Triple Concerto as his Op. 56, to directly emulate Beethoven?
In addition to the mentioned recordings of Casellas two first Symphonies on Naxos, the same company will also issue recordings of his 3rd Symphony coupled with "Elegia eroica" and one CD containing "Notte di maggio", "Scarlattiana" and the Cello Concerto. This info was found in the booklet of the Symphony no. 1-recording by Naxos.
Morten
Unfortunately. the Naxos version of No.2 sounds as if it should be avoided. A comparison of the tempi chosen for the second movement demonstrates this most clearly - the superb BBCPO on Chandos play a true Allegro molto vivace, whereas the distinctly second-rate RomeSO on Naxos just don't get the music off the ground at their lumbering tempo. A shame - but, if you can afford it, go for the Chandos CD.
I couldn't agree more after comparing the excerpts from these two recordings! The Naxos version seems stuck in the mud.
On the whole I didn't think much of Naxos' Martucci series from the same orchestra/conductor either. Not up to their usual standard at all...
Does anyone know if Chandos are going to record more of Casella's music. And what about CPO?
Morten
According to Ralph Couzens, MD at Chandos "Petrassi orchestral works being planned right now, plus more Casella" (Chandos forum, 11th June 2010).
I just listened to the Casella No.2, on Chandos.
I was not prepared for a symphony of this magnitude and overflowing emotions with its Mahlerian depth and sound world. I'd heard other Casella pieces; none of them quite had the firepower of No.2.
Chandos' sound is excellent. I have no way to judge the performance but it sure knocked me out of my seat more than once. Appassionatissimo, indeed!
... and yet. Although I have really enjoyed listening to the first two Casella symphonies quite a lot over the last couple of months and really like the colour and grandeur of his canvas, I'm starting to get irritated by his inability to know when to stop. He is just so profligate with his ideas. One gets the impression that he'd rather invent something new and throw that into the mix than develop something which he has already introduced. It's both lazy and exhausting.
You're right, Mark. The features you point out are Casella's downfall, I think. Still, if you're up for the ride and well strapped in, it's pretty exhilarating...
Naxos can be good. I was very pleased with their recent cd of Schmidt's 3rd. Haven't heard Casella yet,but he sounds very intriguing.
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Friday 20 August 2010, 09:01
... and yet. Although I have really enjoyed listening to the first two Casella symphonies quite a lot over the last couple of months and really like the colour and grandeur of his canvas, I'm starting to get irritated by his inability to know when to stop. He is just so profligate with his ideas. One gets the impression that he'd rather invent something new and throw that into the mix than develop something which he has already introduced. It's both lazy and exhausting.
Mmmm...sure. But there's something to be said for a good wallow now and then. I believe
profligate can be defined as "wildly extravagant". Heck, to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, extravagance in the pursuit of musical enjoyment is no vice. :P
I completely agree that a good wallow now and then is great. I hope I made it clear that I've been enjoying wallowing in Casella's First and Second. It's just that, like too much cream dulls the palate, after repeated listenings the ear (and brain) tires of the over-generous piling on of new material in such sumptuous clothing. You crave something more disciplined and ascetic.
So, what to be said about the First Symphony? Any comments? Is it as emotional (read: profligate) as the Second?
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 21 August 2010, 23:43
So, what to be said about the First Symphony? Any comments? Is it as emotional (read: profligate) as the Second?
Side comment: the full score is available outside the EU (where it's still in copyright) for free download. (Otherwise, it was first published in 1906, and is oo(c).) ( http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony,_Op.5_(Casella,_Alfredo) (http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony,_Op.5_(Casella,_Alfredo))) Whether the score answers your second question depends on whether or not you're a fantastic score-reader, I suspect ;)
Eric
I am able to read a score - but not fantastically. My question nevertheless was meant to evoke a response from someone who has heard the Casella First Symphony and would care to comment.
Casella's 1st is cut fom very much the same cloth as his 2nd...
http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12874 (http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12874)
If you enjoy No.2, you'll like No.1 too!
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 22 August 2010, 21:35
Casella's 1st is cut fom very much the same cloth as his 2nd...
http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12874 (http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12874)
If you enjoy No.2, you'll like No.1 too!
Grazie mille!
...but with less Mahler in the mixture!
It's a bit tauter and less episodic, too, but these distinctions are relative with Casella.
Even his Shostakovitch-like No.3 runs to nearly 45 minutes. But that is in a much more astringent idiom.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 22 August 2010, 22:18
Even his Shostakovitch-like No.3 runs to nearly 45 minutes. But that is in a much more astringent idiom.
For sure. After hearing his smaller (Serenade for Clarinet,
Italia, "Triple" Concerto) works, the first of the symphonies I picked up was the Third, on cpo. It really didn't do a lot for me and certainly, as I wrote above, did not prepare me for the kaleidoscopic Second.
At long last the Naxos Casella series reaches Symphony No.3, due out at the end of May, coupled with the Elegia eroica - although some members have expressed a preference for the Chandos version of the second symphony, I've greatly enjoyed listening to the previous instalments in the Naxos series and am really looking forward to this one.
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/naxos8572415.jpg)
Catalogue No: 8.572415
;D
It available for pre-order from Amazon for only £3.99 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casella-Symphony-No-3-Elegia-Eroica/dp/B004YJZ8CI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305552448&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casella-Symphony-No-3-Elegia-Eroica/dp/B004YJZ8CI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305552448&sr=1-1)
Although there's a price difference, I'd certainly recommend consideration of the superb performance on cpo with, I think, the much superior WDR Orchestra of Cologne under Alun Francis. For once I agree with David Hurwitz...
http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12314 (http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=12314)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2009/Oct09/Casella_7772652.htm (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2009/Oct09/Casella_7772652.htm)
MDT have it on offer at present:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/search/searchresults.asp?sComposer=casella&sGeneralSearchSection=General&sAdvancedSearch_1=francis&sCatalogueNumber=&sAdvancedSearch_2=&sLabel=&sAdvancedSearch_3=&startfrom=1&ctgry=Advanced%2BSearch&serial=11051669200145080&x=86&y=13 (http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/search/searchresults.asp?sComposer=casella&sGeneralSearchSection=General&sAdvancedSearch_1=francis&sCatalogueNumber=&sAdvancedSearch_2=&sLabel=&sAdvancedSearch_3=&startfrom=1&ctgry=Advanced%2BSearch&serial=11051669200145080&x=86&y=13)
And there is more Casella on its way from Noseda on Chandos, according to the article on the Gramophone web site about his recent appointment as Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic. Symphony No 1? No 3? Just as long as he keeps up with the Rufinatscha series as well!
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/israel-philharmonic-orchestra-recruits-gianandrea-noseda
I think Chandos could rather release one or two works still unrecorded : the "Missa pro pace" (from the second wartime) and "Pagine di guerra" (frome the first wartime, unrecorded in orchestral version).
"Elegia eroica" is a dark and expressionist work (composed just after the end of first world war) according to me worthy the price of the Naxos. There is already a recording in a double CD Signum, under the -not always right- title "expressionism"- it contains, among other composers's works, Casella's "Concerto Romano" for organ, strings and brass: a substantial neo-classical work lasting more than 30').