Imreh - Giannini: Piano Concerto; Symphony No. 4
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CD Details
Artist: ImrehComposer: Giannini
Conductor: Spalding
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-01-27
Music Label: NAXOS AMERICAN
Soundtracks:
- Piano Concerto: Sostenuto - Allegro moderato
- Piano Concerto: Adagio
- Piano Concerto: Burlesca: Allegro vigoroso
- Symphony No. 4: Allegro con passione
- Symphony No. 4: Sostenuto e calmo
- Symphony No. 4: Allegro
Music reviews of Giannini: Piano Concerto; Symphony No. 4
Music Review: More Unheard Giannini Makes It Onto Record
Rating: 4 Stars
Vittorio Giannini (1903-1966) was among those American composers of Italian heritage, including Paul Creston (né Giuseppe Guttoveggio) and Walter Piston (the family was originally named Pistone), who came to maturity before World War II and were important composers in the romantic or neo-romantic line. Giannini came from a musical family -- his mother was a violinist, his two sisters, Euphemia and Dusolina, were famed singers and teachers -- and he started early, being sent off to Milan from his hometown of Philadelphia at age nine to study at the Verdi Conservatory. He wrote prolifically, primarily operas early on -- my first taste of his music was seeing a production of his opera, 'Taming of the Shrew', in the early 1960s -- but also much instrumental music, including seven symphonies.
His Piano Concerto was written in 1934 and premièred in 1937 with the young Rosalyn Tureck as soloist. It received positive reviews but was never played again until this recording was made. In the CD's booklet, pianist Gabriela Imreh writes a touching note about learning the concerto for this recording. The work is a very old-fashioned piece, even for its time in the 1930s. It doesn't get much more modern than Rachmaninov or even Grieg, both of whose concerti it somewhat resembles. It is filled with soaring melodies, flashy octaves, filigree and chord-work for the soloist and although it is probably not a great work, it is immensely enjoyable. For me the finale is the high point; I particularly like its fugato section that leads into a heart-easing, broadly songful section toward the end of the work. The concerto is long -- forty-one minutes -- partly due to the young Giannini's addiction to long chains of sequences and his tendency to develop his materials to a fare-thee-well. Imreh does a superlative job of putting forth the work's many felicities, overcoming the virtuoso requirements with aplomb.
But the most impressive work on this disc is the much shorter -- twenty-three minutes -- Symphony No. 4 (1959). It is a concise, tightly concentrated work whose musical language is considerably tarter than that of the concerto. It is highly chromatic but still tonal. The interval of the fourth figures importantly in its construction. The first movement is dramatic with islands of lyrical warmth. The second movement, sostenuto e calmo, is the expressive heart of the work particularly in the lushly romantic and heartfelt middle section. The allegro finale is at times martial or anguished but it opens up towards the end to a slow final section that recalls the melodic warmth of the middle movement before ending with a short scherzoso coda.
Daniel Spalding and the Bournemouth Symphony do an outstanding job of presenting these works in a positive light. One could imagine a more lush presentation of the concerto, but the present recording will do nicely until some group like the Philadelphia Orchestra records it. Once again we owe thanks for the highly informative booklet notes of Walter Simmons, the leading scholar-advocate for the valuable roster of neo-romantic American composers, whose book 'Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers' is a must-have for anyone interested in this sub-genre of American music. Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers
Another valuable recording of Giannini's music in this Naxos series: Giannini: Symphony No. 3; Praeludium and Allegro; Variations and Fugue
Scott Morrison
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