I Virtuosi Italiani

On this CD:

1. Crisantemi, elegy for string quartet
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

2. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Jocul Cu Bata
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

3. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Braul
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

4. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Pe Loc
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

5. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Buciumeana
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

6. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Poarga Romanesca
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

7. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Maruntel
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

8. Romanian Folk Dances (6), for piano (Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 Maruntel
Composed by Bela Bartok
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

9. Trauermusik for viola (or violin or cello) & string orchestra
Composed by Paul Hindemith
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

10. Divertimento for string orchestra Jo Alapos Csardas
Composed by Leo Weiner
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

11. Divertimento for string orchestra Roka
Composed by Leo Weiner
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

12. Divertimento for string orchestra Marosszeki Keringös
Composed by Leo Weiner
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

13. Divertimento for string orchestra Verbunkos
Composed by Leo Weiner
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

14. Divertimento for string orchestra Csürdöngos
Composed by Leo Weiner
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

15. Serenade for string orchestra in E flat major
Composed by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Performed by I Virtuosi Italiani

I Virtuosi Italiani, Music, Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, Giacomo Puccini, Leo Weiner, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, I Virtuosi Italiani, 20th/21st Century Occasional Music, Chamber, Classical, Concerto, Orchestral, Quartet for Four String Instruments, Romantic Serenade/Cassation/Divertimento, Suite for Orchestra, Viola Concerto

Nino Rota: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Average customer rating:

Two Marvelous Concertos by Rota

Nino Rota: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Rota, Nino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Rota: Two Piano Concertos

Nino Rota

Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Rota: L'Oeuvre pour piano; Concerto soirée; Fantasia "Don Giovanni"

Rota: Symphony No. 3, Concerto festivo, Le Moliere imaginaire

ASIN: B00005J71K
Release Date: 2001-06-26

Tracks:

Conc No.1: I. Allegro
Conc No.1: II. Larghetto Cantabile
Conc No.1: III. Allegro
Con No.2: I. Allegro Moderato
Con No.2: II. Tema E Var. Andantino Cantabile, Con Grazia
Con No.2: III. Allegro Vivo

Customer Reviews:

Two Marvelous Concertos by Rota.......2001-12-28

Nino Rota (1911-1979) belonged to the same generation, chronologically speaking, as Goffredo Petrassi and Bruno Maderna, the one slightly older and the other slightly younger. Yet Rota remained worlds apart from his countrymen-pioneers into the Schoenbergian postwar avant-garde; his music reflected that of older men such as Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Ottorino Respighi. Rota's concert scores were invariably tuneful and clearly orchestrated - and remarkably friendly to audiences. His sense of form (very eighteenth century) makes him a neoclassicist, but his musical language - his idiom so to speak - is neo-Romantic. The trendsetters naturally ignored his works. Never mind: Rota made his living writing for the films, notably at the repeated behest of Federico Fellini; he also headed the conservatory at Bari. The concert works represent pure devotion, or maybe the pure spontaneity of a perpetually inspired music maker. Like Miklos Rozsa in Hollywood, Rota traded roles with ease and sometimes used music from his cinema accompaniments in his concert pieces. Because he approached film music so seriously, this practice never resulted in any type of solecism. (Listen to the ballet extracted from his score for "La Strada"; it is independent of its filmic context.) Yet changes do register in Rota's style. The two late-in-life Cello Concertos (1972 and 1973) do seem calculatedly more serious, a bit darker, than earlier compositions. Of the pair, the First Concerto is the weightiest, both in orchestration and character. Cellist Dmitry Yablonsky and I Virtuosi Italiani under Daniel Boico bring to the First Movement Allegro admirable energy ad commitment; the lyrical expansion midway through is particularly poignant. The Second Movement, Larghetto Cantabile, lives up to its designation; other instruments make significant solo contributions in partnership with the cello during its course. The movement is in the form of a theme and variations, with links to the First Movement. The boisterous Third Movement, another Allegro, also displays thematic ties with the First Movement, but it dispels the worries that have previously shadowed the extrovert elements of the score. It does this even in its fugal passages - quite jolly. The Second Concerto is slighter in texture. Yet its middle-movement Andante, another theme and variations (this time properly so-called), is expansive. It requires nearly a quarter of an hour in performance all by itself. Two charming movements in a non-astringent neoclassical vein enclose the central variations. Recommended

Average customer rating:

Nino Rota
Rota , I Virtuosi Italiani , and Conti
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Nino Rota: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Rota: Two Piano Concertos
Rota: L'Oeuvre pour piano; Concerto soirée; Fantasia "Don Giovanni"
Nino Rota: Concerto for Strings; "La Strada" Suite; Dances from "Il Gattopardo"

ASIN: B000063BI8
Release Date: 2002-04-23

Tracks:

Concerto For Harp: I Allegro Moderato
Concerto For Harp: II. Andante
Concerto For Harp: III. Allegro
Concerto For Bassoon And Orchestra: I. Toccata. Allegretto Vivace
Concerto For Bassoon And Orchestra: II. Recitativo. Lento
Concerto For Bassoon And Orchestra: III. Tema E Variazioni Tema.
Castel Del Monte: Ballad For Horn And Orchestra Andante Sostenuto E Sognante - Allegro Giusto - Allegretto Moderato - Lento - Tempo I - Molto Calmo
Concerto For Trombone And Orchestra: I. Allegro Giusto
Concerto For Trombone And Orchestra: II. Lento, Ben Ritmato
Concerto For Trombone And Orchestra: III. Allegro Moderato

Average customer rating:

Il Signor Rossini at the age of 19 polishes his craft with "Il Signor Bruschino"
A Masterpiece of Comic Verve and Invention Done to a T

Rossini: Il Signor Bruschino

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Opera & Vocal | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Rossini - La Donna del Lago / Caballé, Bonisolli, Hamari, Bottazzo
Rossini - Tancredi / Podles, Jo, Olsen, Spagnoli, di Micco, Lendi, Zedda
Rossini: Torvaldo e Dorliska
Rossini: L'Assedio di Corinto
Paer: Sofonisba [Highlights]

ASIN: B0002BXOG4
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Customer Reviews:

Il Signor Rossini at the age of 19 polishes his craft with "Il Signor Bruschino".......2006-07-09

Source: Studio recording made at Auditorium Pandurera, Ferrara, on May 4, 2002.

Sound: Good contemporary DDD stereo. I'd prefer that the singers be a little more distant from the microphones, but that is purely a matter of personal taste.

Cast: Florville, a clever and ardent young man who pretends to be a Signor Bruschino - Allessandro Codeluppi (tenor); Sofia, his beloved - Elena Rossi (soprano); Gaudenzio, Sofia's guardian and enemy to Florville's father - Maurizio Leoni (baritone); Signor Bruschino - a prosperous and respectable gentleman with a slacker for a son - Dario Giorgele (bass); Bruschino Figlio, a young Signor Bruschino and a slacker - Massimiliano Barbolini (tenor); Filiberto, an inn keeper with whom Slacker Bruschino has run up debts - Antonio Marani (baritone); Marianna, Sofia's maid - Clara Giangaspero (mezzo-soprano); Commissario - Vito Marino (tenor). Conductor: Claudio Desderi with i Virtuosi Italiani.

Format: One disk - 19 tracks; 79:43.

Documentation: Libretto in Italian. Fairly extensive plot summary tied into the track listings. Thumbnail biographies of the conductor, all the singers and the orchestra.

Rossini established his operatic reputation with a series of one-act operas that began with "La cambiale di matrimonio" (The Marriage Contract). "Il Signor Bruschino" is the fifth and last of these short operas, written when the composer was a seasoned old pro at the age of 19. The opera is a farce involving anxious young lovers, befuddled old men and mistaken identities. After all, what other plot can an operatic farce have?

In general tone, "Bruschino" is something like a very rough sketch of "The Barber of Seville." The mechanical nature of the one-dimensional plot doesn't allow for unique characters, so there is no Rosina, Figaro or Don Basilio. The shortness of the piece doesn't leave space for Rossini to develop his madcap ensembles. And naturally there is no wonderful, whirlwind first act finale to lift the audience out of their seats in the middle of the show.

The singers made their professional debuts in the mid to late 1990s. They sound much as one might expect--competent, with none of them yet having developed any signs of becoming a superstar. Codeluppi has a fuller voice than is the current standard for Rossini tenors. He has satisfactory technique and a pleasing sound, although slightly covered in tone. Rossi has a vocal production that is often oddly reminiscent of Callas, but her voice is considerably lighter and thinner of body. The deeper voiced men exhibit some breathy hard-going in Rossini's most florid passages but are still fairly good, despite the fact that contemporary academic training and know-nothing directors forbid them to use the buffa techniques and style for which this opera plainly cries out.

The hubristic band calls themselves the Italian Virtuosos, but they sound all right, so they get away with it. This time.

The conductor, who made his debut back in 1969 by singing in "Il Signor Bruschino," keeps things moving nicely in the contemporary take-no-laughs manner.

This bargain-priced set does not match my ideal version of "Il Signor Bruschino" but it is still pretty good and it is hardly likely to be improved upon in the foreseeable future. Five stars.

A Masterpiece of Comic Verve and Invention Done to a T.......2004-08-22

This one act 'farse giocosa' by Rossini was a failure at its première, which is hard to understand. Perhaps it had to do with the new tricks up Rossini's sleeve (for instance, the famous instance, in the overture, of having the second violins rhythmically tap on their music stands with their bows) or maybe it had to do with a new kind of plot that foreshadowed the unrelenting irony we moderns take for granted in Rossini's comic operas. Whatever the cause, 'Il Signor Bruschino,' did not hold the stage and, except for its ever-popular overture in the concert hall, it has rarely been staged. There is an earlier recording from 1988 that I've not heard. But with the excellence of the present recording I suspect I won't go looking for it. This one is a corker.

The plot won't keep us long. It involves an arranged marriage for the ward, Sofia, of an old man, Gaudenzio. There are mistaken identities, an attempt at gaining the old man's blessing for a marriage to the young man whom Sofia actually loves, and a happy ending, all in one act that lasts about 80 minutes. More important, in addition to the delightful overture, there is a parade of tuneful arias and ensembles that sparkle and delight from beginning to end.

The cast here sound to be young Italian singers well versed in the Rossini style, accompanied by I Virtuosi Italiani under Claudio Desderi, a conductor whose début in 1969 at the Edinburgh Festival was in this very opera, and who has specialized in the operas of Rossini and Mozart. Special mention must be made of Elena Rossi (Sofia) whose aria with cor anglais obbligato, 'Ah donate il caro sposo,' is meltingly sung, the comic duet ('Io donari vi darò') between Florville (tenor Alessandro Codeluppi) and the inn-keeper Filiberto (baritone Antonio Marani), the hilarious terzetto of Bruschino (basso Dario Giorgelè), the old man Gaudenzio (baritone Maurizio Leoni), and Florville that builds to one of those patented Rossini crescendos. And one mustn't forget Bruschino's aria 'Ho la testa o è andata via?' done with both humor and pathos by Giorgelè as Bruschino. And then there's the good-humored finale with all coming right in the end; it features all the solo singers in a jolly dénouement.

The booklet features a complete libretto in Italian, but with no English translation. There is, however, a detailed synopsis with cue points.

This one's a winner and gets my heartiest recommendation.

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

light, beautiful, recreational

Rota: Two Piano Concertos

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Nino Rota: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Rota: Symphony No. 3, Concerto festivo, Le Moliere imaginaire
Rota: L'Oeuvre pour piano; Concerto soirée; Fantasia "Don Giovanni"
Nino Rota
Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

ASIN: B00000DBQS
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Piano Concerto in E Minor: I Allegro tranquillo
Piano Concerto in E Minor: II Andante sostenuto
Piano Concerto in E Minor: III Allegro
Piano Concerto In C Major: I Allegro cantabile
Piano Concerto In C Major: II Arietta con variazioni
Piano Concerto In C Major: III Allegro

Amazon.com

Many years ago, the famous Hoffnung Festival classical music comedy series offered a "Concerto Popolare," a piano concerto movement made up entirely of recognizable themes from famous piano concertos. Rota's Piano Concertos, two of which receive their premiere recordings here, are less amusing because the themes aren't familiar, but the styles certainly are: Rachmaninov here, Grieg there, a large dash of Ravel, and so on. The performances sound entirely competent, as though the performers actually thought this was important music. But it's just the same kind of stuff Rota churned out for his famous movie scores, only less useful. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

light, beautiful, recreational.......2005-04-23

shamefully I haven't watched Godfather or 8 1/2 and totally forgot the music of La Strada when I encountered this disc via Internet. And before that I'd never heard of Nino Rota. But this is beautiful music enjoyable and definitely accessible.
Rota is a film composer, which means his music, even that not written for movies, is easily evocative of scenes and emotions. These two piano concertos are also of such quality. They're light -- there're rarely fortissimos, orchestration is not dense either; they're beautiful -- full of simple yet lovely melodies; they're recreational -- inflicting no mental burden as Brahms or Rachmaninov or even Chopin does. You just sit there enjoying it, with or without various kinds of colors and images passing before your eyes. That's all.
Concerto No.1 is larger and structurally more complicated, also more romantic, more dreamy; while No.2 is shorter, wittier and livelier

Average customer rating:

Campagnoli: Concerto; Duets

Manufacturer: Dynamic Italy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004798L
Release Date: 2000-02-14

Biscogli: Concerto for trumpet, oboe, bassoon violins in D; Sammartini: Symphony

Average customer rating:

Biscogli: Concerto for trumpet, oboe, bassoon violins in D; Sammartini: Symphony

Manufacturer: Bongiovanni
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004YLE6
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Average customer rating:

Bonporti: Concertos

Manufacturer: Pierre Verany
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000023XUG
Release Date: 1993-10-15

Tracks:

Allergo
Largo
Allegro Vivace
Comodo
Andante Assai
Allegro
Allegro
Larghetto
Allegro
Presto
Larghetto
Spiritoso
Allegro Assai
Larghetto
Con Spirito

Perosi: Missa Pontificalis; Messa a due voci dispari

Average customer rating:

Perosi: Missa Pontificalis; Messa a due voci dispari

Manufacturer: Bongiovanni
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Lorenzo Perosi: Gerusalemme

ASIN: B00009W8MC
Release Date: 2003-06-24

Average customer rating:

Rossini: Sei Sonate a Quattro

Manufacturer: Tactus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0007NH2HY
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

Moderato
Andante
Allegro
Allegro
Andante
Allegro
Allegro
Andante
Moderato
Allegro Vivace
Andante
Allegretto
Allegro Vivace
Andante
Allegretto
Allegro Spiritoso
Andante Assai
Tempesta: Allegro

Album Description

These early works (Rossini was 12!) were only discovered and published in the 1950s, with the composer's own note from years later attached, calling them "horrendous" works that were first performed by "dogs." Actually, they are pieces of stupefying skill and attractiveness considering the age of the composer and his lack of training. I Virtuosi Italiani have been performing successfully in important cities in Italy and abroad for years, also with soloists and conductors of international rank.