SCG:[AG_post] Re: Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Re: Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Subject: Re: Castelnuovo-Tedesco

From: "Angelo Gilardino" <winter@xxxxxxxx>

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 07:53:23 +0100

> -----Messaggio originale----- > Inviato: venerdì 17 dicembre 1999 1.43 > A: cguitar-list@eskimo.com > Oggetto: Castelnuovo-Tedesco > > > First of all, I consider C-T to have been a marvelous composer who has not > yet received the recognition he truly deserves. Although he achieved a > great deal of success through the Hollywood film industry, his serious art > music (for many diverse instruments and ensembles) was largely overlooked > during his own time because of the prevailing interest in more > avante-garde > composers. This is true for what the time after the second World War is concerned, but until the year 1938 - when Hitler and Mussolini signed their agrement regarding the destiny of Jewish people - Castelnuovo-Tedesco was highly recognized in Europe as a leading composer, much to the envy of many Italian musicians. His works, regularly featured in the major Festivals and theatres, were performed by interpreters like Arturo Toscanini, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Alfredo Casella, Walter Gieseking: this latter was a faithful interpreter of MCT piano music, and he stopped to feature it in his concert only when the Nazists declared Jewish music outlaw. Actually, few Italian composers of the generation of MCT reached such a level of international acclaim. It may be of some significance the fact that when Segovia decided to invite him to write for guitar (1932, at Venice Festival of Music) he was so intimidated by the composer's fame that he did not dare to talk him directly, and asked the composer's wife, Clara, to introduce his request to her husband! After the war, the power in the music field in Europe was taken by the young exponents of the "new music", with their ideological violence. MCT was only one of their victims. Recently, a music magazine published the text of a letter where one of the leaders of that movement, the French composer Pierre Boulez, commented the fact that the opera by Benjamin Britten, "Peter Grimes", had been featured by a major European festival, despite the adversity of the new music exponents: unbelievable to read. Perhaps, the most unfair treatment of MCT's reputation has been the text of the entry regarding him in the New Grove. > Even today, I'll bet that few of us on this list are familiar with many of > his works for guitar. In addition to 'Platero y yo', some of my other > personal favorites are 'Caprichos de Goya', 'Capriccio Diabolico', > 'Variations a Travers les Siecles', and 'Escarraman' as well as the > "Fantasia for Guitar and Piano' and 'Romancero Gitano' for guitar and > choir. I have to confess that I too cannot claim to be familiar > with all of > this other works for guitar (at least not yet). I hope that this > discussion > will spark some interest in all of us because I think the rewards will be > great. I think the guitarists would take a lot of advantage with listening to the whole piano music of MCT performed by the great Italian pianist Aldo Ciccolini who has recently recorded it in four CDs. There is a sort of parallel path between the guitar and piano music of Mario, but the latter is surely untouched by the amateurish approach which has devastated the guitar works. Ciccolini is a master, the ideal pianist for MCT's music. The series is entitled "MCT - The Complete Piano Works" and it is released by Phoenix Classics, Italy. Angelo Gilardino Composer and Editor The Artistic Director of the "Andrés Segovia" Foundation of Spain 13100 Vercelli, Italia via Failla, 7 tel. & fax + 0161 255346 email <winter@net4u.it> http://www.seicorde.it/Gilardino/

SDG - Soli Deo Gloria

Last Modified: 06/10/10 14:35

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Re: Castelnuovo-Tedesco