Came across this CD containing Rendano's 38-minute Piano Quintet:
https://www.recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=08U027 (https://www.recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=08U027)
There's also a two-piano recording of his PC:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfonso-Rendano-Rodolfo-Rubino-Daniela/dp/B00AUSY4A4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533163396&sr=8-3&keywords=alfonso+rendano (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfonso-Rendano-Rodolfo-Rubino-Daniela/dp/B00AUSY4A4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533163396&sr=8-3&keywords=alfonso+rendano)
...and an opera, Consuelo:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=102633
The Piano Quintet was recorded a few years ago by Groupo Bonucci on Aura CD 415 along with 9 pieces for piano.
I have that CD, but it's years since I listened to it. The music obviously didn't make a great impression...
Excerpts from the new CD with the PQ here: http://digressionemusic.it/portfolio-items/rendano-portrait/
(http://digressionemusic.it/portfolio-items/rendano-portrait/)
We were quite impressed with the quintet and if we could have found the sheet music would have gladly made it available...
The quintet appears to have been published by Edizione Curci of Milan in 1977, but is no longer listed in their catalogue.
Do you know anything about his Piano Concerto, Gareth? Is the version with orchestra still extant?
More info on the composer here: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=593297 (http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=593297)
I can't say I've looked for Rendano's PC. The two piano score was published by Curci in 1982, so I suppose they would be the first port of call for the orchestral score and parts. I believe there is a Rendano Archive somewhere in Italy too, which may have his MSS. I'd have to do a bit of research.
There is a PDF online that discusses the history of the concerto and Rendano's relations with Liszt but seems to leave the ultimate destination of the parts and full score of the concerto in some doubt ( www.demusica.pl/cmsimple/images/file/diagonali_3_pingitore.pdf ).
I saw that. However, it's in Italian...
I translated a bit (computer translator, anyway) but didn't offhand find anything that shouted "here, this is a location of parts." The parts and score were -mentioned- in interesting contexts... if someone who knows Italian and is interested could have a good looksee over the dissertation I'd be interested to see what they thought, yes...
Thanks for this, Eric.
The manuscript of the piano concerto was (re)discovered recently, and there is now a recording on Youtube, from September 2024:
Giovanni Alvino, piano
RTSH Symphony Orchestra, Tirana
conducted by Leonardo Quadrini.
This is available on the pianist's own channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ETRizPEXsw) or also here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGc-lruTeA).
The Piano Concerto is apparently due for digital release on 19th September:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9779582--alfonso-rendano-piano-concerto-allegro-in-a-minor
Thanks, Alan. The audio extracts are promising.
The Albanian YouTube recording sounds like watered-down Brahms at his most ponderous, and I am not sure that this is down entirely to the conductor and orchestra. Long, and tepid, and short of ideas,perhaps.
Just because a manuscript is discovered (cf the Suppe symphony) does not mean that a recording should ensue.
I'll be purchasing the CD if and when it appears: I find the history of non-operatic music by Italian composers in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries very interesting, e.g. Sgambati, Martucci, et al...
I note that the new recording was made in Germany, with the excellent Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester, the same band featured on the first-rate cpo recordings of Dietrich's Symphony, VC, etc. That gives me confidence that the overall performance will be a good one. Here's the finale:
https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/rendano-a-piano-concerto-iii-vivace
Sounds good to me!
I'll try browsing SBN (https://opac.sbn.it/) later to see if I can find locations of scores etc. of Rendano's works in Italian libraries but it's loading very slowly right now...
(It may be my browser, which is doing something weird when it does connect. ICCU SBN (https://www.iccu.sbn.it/en/sbn/index.html) is working better but doesn't quite do what I'm looking to do. Returning to Google Chrome from DuckDuckGo is seeming better all the time, or even other browsers.)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 08 June 2025, 15:01Here's the finale:
https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/rendano-a-piano-concerto-iii-vivace
Sounds good to me!
Me too. Something about Rendano's writing for the piano and the spareness of the orchestration reminds me of Anton Rubinstein's concertos, which is not a bad thing.
And by the way, the forthcoming new recording - judging by the timings at Presto - will be a good deal swifter than the one on YouTube. All to the good, I think.
That's very welcome news