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Francesco Cilea: Piano Trio; Cello Sonata / Cusano, Di Tonno, Codispoti
Posted by Paul Ballyk on Nov 7, 2014 in Romantic | 0 comments
Italian composer Francesco Cilea is best known for his operas, Adriana Lecouvreur and L'arlesiana, but his success in the opera house was spotty. His final opera, Gloria, premièred in Milan in 1907 under the baton of Arturo Toscanini, was poorly received and withdrawn after only two performances. This blow was enough to make the forty year old Cilea abandon the operatic stage permanently. He did, however, continue to write chamber music, a genre that occupied him throughout his career. This Brilliant Classics release recorded in 2013 of Cilea's Cello Sonata and Piano Trio, along with two brief works for violin and piano, brings to light music of remarkable sophistication and melodic charm.
The cello sonata and trio are works from the composer's youth, written when he was in his early twenties, but these certainly don't sound like student pieces. Opening the program is the Cello Sonata in D, played beautifully by Italian cellist Jacopo Di Tonno, with a luscious, honeyed tone that extends from top to bottom of his instrument's range. The piece has a distinctively beautiful central movement titled doloroso - somber and plaintive, it's exquisitely evocative. You can hear the opening of this movement at the beginning of the video provided below this recommendation. This work is followed by the charming Piano Trio in D, where Mr. Di Tonno is again joined by pianist Domenico Codispoti, this time with the addition of violinist Ilaria Cusano. The sample from the album provided in the right sidebar is the exciting Allegro con fuoco movement concluding this fine piano trio. In the final dozen minutes of the album, we hear music of the mature composer, Canto and Theme and Variations. Both pieces were originally conceived with orchestral accompaniment, but later arranged by Cilea for violin and piano.
Although at only forty-seven minutes the album rings in rather short, at the low Brilliant Classics asking price, it's still a bargain for any listener on the lookout for some fresh and enjoyable Romantic chamber music.
Child genius Francesco Cilea, sent to study law at just seven years of age, became a celebrated composer in late-19th- and early-20th-century Italy. Among his most famous works are the operas Adriana Lecouvreur, L’arlesiana and Gina, and the symphonic poem Il canto della vita, which was written in 1913 for the centenary of Verdi’s birth. He was awarded membership of the Accademia d’Italia in recognition of his musical achievements.
Many of Cilea’s chamber music compositions were written while the composer was in his 20s – these include the Cello Sonata in D and Trio for violin, cello and piano, both of which display a distinctive lyricism that would become a feature of much of Cilea’s mature work. The Theme and Variations and the Canto were written much later, and were originally composed for orchestra. Here they are performed in the composer’s re-arranged version for piano and cello.
Performing together for the first time on the Brilliant Classics label, each of the performers on this recording enjoys an international reputation: Ilaria Cusano (violin), Jacopo Di Tonno (cello) and Domenico Codispoti (piano).
Source: Brilliant Classics
 Francesco Cilea |
Francesco Cilea, composer Francesco Cilea (1866–1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L’arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur. Born in Palmi near Reggio di Calabria, Cilea gave early indication of an aptitude for music when at the age of four he heard a performance of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma and was greatly affected by it. He was sent to study music at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Maiella in Naples, where he quickly demonstrated his diligence and precocious talent, earning a gold medal from the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (Department of Education). At the Teatro Lirico in Milan, in 1902, the composer won an enthusiastic reception for Adriana Lecouvreur, a 4-act opera with a libretto by Arturo Colautti, set in 18th century Paris and based upon a play by Eugène Scribe.Adriana Lecouvreur is the opera of Cilea which is best known to international audiences today, and it reveals the spontaneity of a melodic style drawn from the Neapolitan school combined with harmonic and tonal shading influenced by French composers such as Massenet. In his last years Cilea’s eyesight failed but his mind was active enough to encourage and work with singers of the day. Among his last musical activities was his championship of the soprano Magda Olivero (1910-2014), whose performances in the title role of Adriana Lecouvreur he especially admired. Cilea died on 20 November 1950 in Varazze, a town near Savona in Liguria which offered him honorary citizenship and where he spent the last years of his life. The Conservatorio di Musica and the Teatro Communale of Reggio di Calabria were renamed in his memory, and his native town of Palmi built a mausoleum in his memory, decorated with scenes from the myth of Orpheus. |
 Ilaria Cusano |
Ilaria Cusano, violin Ilaria Cusano graduated with honors from the Conservatory G. Verdi in Milan under the guidance of his father Felice Cusano. While still a student, she won several national and international competitions (Pieve Emanuele, Macerata Tortona, Pavia, Olgiate Olona, Dasinamov Lurisia, Palmi, etc.), as well as the violin review of Vittorio Veneto (1995) where she was also awarded first prize with special mention for chamber music. She then pursued studies at the University of Bloomington, Indiana, where, in December 1998, she received the distinction of “High Performer” under the guidance of Maestro Mauricio Fuks. As the violinist of the Trio Bettinelli (vl. Vlc. Pf.), Cusano has played for major Italian and foreign companies following courses with the quartet “Alban Berg” at the Academy of Cologne (Germany). Her most ‘recent engagements have been at the “Teatro della Scala” in Milan and the’ “Hermitage” in St. Petersburg with “I Solisti di Pavia.” Cusano currently teaches violin at the Conservatory of Music “Nino Rota” of Monopoli. Source: http://www.gubbiosummerfestival.it/?btp_work=ilaria-cusano&lang=en
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 Jacopo Di Tonno |
Jacopo Di Tonno, cello Born in Naples in 1977, Jacopo Di Tonno started studying cello at the age of 9 and graduated at the Conservatory “L.D’Annunzio” in Pescara with the best marks. He has attended international courses held by Radu Aldulescu in Spain and since 1998 his cello teacher is M° E.Dindo, while for chamber music he has worked with P.Farulli, A.Nannoni, M.Skampa, Trio di Trieste and D. Rossi. At the age of 21 he was became principal cellist at the “Teatro Regio” in Turin, and has since undertaken collaborations with the most important Italian and European orchestras playing with famous conductors such as R. Muti, G. Sinopoli, N. Marriner, G. Noseda, L.Berio, C.M. Giulini, etc. He is principal cello of M° E.Dindo’s group “I Solisti di Pavia” with whom he has performed in the most important European concert halls and has recorded several chamber music CDs. He plays also as soloist and since a couple of years he is partner of “Bettinelli Piano Trio” (Ilaria Cusano violin, Dario Cusano piano) performing for important concert seasons. Since year 2007 he been a part of the Chamber Music Program at the Cologne School of Music with the Alban Berg Quartet. He has made recordings for Harmonia Mundi, Tritò, Velut Luna for Radio3 and for the Italian Broadcasting. |
 Domenico Codispoti |
Domenico Codispoti, piano Domenico Codispoti was born in Catanzaro, southern Italy, in 1975. Following studies with Bruno Mezzena at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese in his home country, he moved to the United States, where he completed an Artist Diploma at Southern Methodist University in Dallas under Joaquin Achucarro. He also holds a diploma from Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. |
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Francesco Cilea: Chamber Music