Luigi Dallapiccola

Started by Guido, October 08, 2008, 12:22:25 PM

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Guido

Intrigued by this composer, I was surprised that no thread had been created for him yet. I know absolutely nothing about him beyond the wikipedia page, so would welcome any and all recommendations. Which pieces are his best/ most representative?
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

bhodges

#1
Thanks for creating this thread.  Although I don't seem to have much of his work in my collection (have to fix!), I can recommend this CD very highly.  Gianandrea Noseda (b. 1964) is a relatively young conductor who has made a big splash in Prokofiev and other composers, and he clearly likes Dallapiccola, too.  An Amazon comment is here.

Edit: If you like opera, I have also heard raves about this recording of Il Prigioniero, conducted by Salonen.

--Bruce

lukeottevanger

No contest - his Lyriche Greche, which is made up of three smaller groups of settings of ancient Greek poetry. Utterly superb, and by the by possibly the single best advertisment for the 12 tone technique (without Bergian tonal references to muddy the waters  ;D ). It's a cliche, but Dallapiccola like some of his Italian contemporaries had a true lyric gift, and in these exquisite, delicate songs it's evident in abundance. One of the most striking of these songs is about a seashell, and like a seashell all the songs are delicate, irridescent - and yet incredibly strong, because of Dallapiccola's intensely contrapuntal writing.*  As the cycle progresses the strongly contrapuntal nature of the songs becomes more and more apparent, and instead of being named after their tempi, they become 'Canoni', 'Variazione', 'Canon perpetuus', 'Canones diversi', 'Canon contrario motu' and so on. All very consciously Bachian, specifically very Musical Offering-y - and of course Dallapiccola has his own Musical Offering in the gorgeous Quaderno Musicale per Annalibera - but the Mediterranean warmth of the sound isn't Bachian!

One of the most beautiful experiences of my life was sitting in a cold, grey lecture room at Cambridge listening to Hugh Wood talk about Dallapiccola's life, and then put on an LP of these songs. It had me spellbound. Later, I found the score in the college music library - the strong canonic threads of the music were clearly there to see, but so was the delicacy. One of my favourite, touchstone 20th century works without a doubt, as you can see!

*This combination of vulnerablity and contrapuntal strength reminds me of late Brahms, such as op 119/1, which I think is the one Clara Schumann (no, maybe it was Brahms himself) described as a 'grey pearl', which brings us back to things marine and nacreous!.

bhodges

Bumping up this thread since tomorrow night I'm seeing two Dallapiccola operas in concert, with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein.  He isn't the most incisive conductor, but there is no doubt about his superb programming.  I am not expecting to hear either of these scores again live for a very long time.

Luigi Dallapiccola: Volo di notte (1939)
Luigi Dallapiccola: Il prigioniero (1948)

More information is here.

--Bruce

Guido

#4
Do tell us how it goes!

I must add that I absolutely agree with Luke's assessment of the Lyriche Greche - Nothing I could write would add to his beautiful appraisal of them, but I urge anyone with even the remotest interest in 20th century music to give them a listen.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

gomro

Quote from: bhodges on October 08, 2008, 12:37:34 PM
Thanks for creating this thread.  Although I don't seem to have much of his work in my collection (have to fix!), I can recommend this CD very highly.  Gianandrea Noseda (b. 1964) is a relatively young conductor who has made a big splash in Prokofiev and other composers, and he clearly likes Dallapiccola, too.  An Amazon comment is here.

Edit: If you like opera, I have also heard raves about this recording of Il Prigioniero, conducted by Salonen.

--Bruce

I'll second this, and go on to add that I'm no fan of opera, but Il Prigioniero overcame my aversions as few operas can.  I still prefer the other disc, though.

Chafing Dish

I'd like to put in a good word for Commiato, and for the Piccola Musica Notturna for small ensemble.

Sean

There's a CD of his and Petrassi's piano music, both rich and fascinating (much closer to Messiaenic modality than serialism), the Dallapiccola stuff being particularly persuasive. None of it great music but fills in the picture of mid century Italy.

MDL

Quote from: bhodges on October 08, 2008, 12:37:34 PM
Thanks for creating this thread.  Although I don't seem to have much of his work in my collection (have to fix!), I can recommend this CD very highly.  Gianandrea Noseda (b. 1964) is a relatively young conductor who has made a big splash in Prokofiev and other composers, and he clearly likes Dallapiccola, too.  An Amazon comment is here.

Edit: If you like opera, I have also heard raves about this recording of Il Prigioniero, conducted by Salonen.

--Bruce

I wish Decca (or new label Explore, which has released a lot of old Decca Headline recordings) would reissue Dorati's Washington performance of Il Prigioniero, which has never been released on CD. I much prefer it to the Salonen.

bwv 1080


Dallapiccola wrote some great music

I have these two discs

Vocal music with  Pierre Boulez/Ensemble Contemporain



Quaderno musicale di Annalibera for solo piano is perhaps Dallapiccola's best known piece:



MDL

One of my I-remember-liking-that-but-I-haven't-played-it-for-yonks CDs: Radio France's recording of Ulisse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by 20th-century music expert Ernest Bour, recorded in 1975 and released on CD by Naive. The orchestral writing is more avant-garde than The Prisoner, at times approaching a Die Soldaten -esque level of clatter and angst, which may not be to everyone's liking, but it floats my boat.

snyprrr

i believe dallapiccola wrote the first dodecaphonic solo cello piece!

there is a great Stradivarious label cd of i believe, all his chamber music, plus annabella.

orchestrally, the 2 questions w/ answers is very stately 12 tone italian nobility.

and of course the erato cd.

also, check out GHEDINI!!!

Guido

Anyone know of a recording of the Dialoghi per violoncello e orchestra? I'd love to hear it.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Dundonnell


Guido

Cheers! That's another one I can cross of the list! Next is Blacher's cello concerto... I know a recording exists but it is currently out of print...
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Dundonnell

Quote from: Guido on March 01, 2009, 05:45:50 PM
Cheers! That's another one I can cross of the list! Next is Blacher's cello concerto... I know a recording exists but it is currently out of print...

Oh no it's not!!!!!

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=1149&name_role1=1&bcorder=1&comp_id=68895

Guido

I am a wee bit wary as I have tried ordering a special order item from them twice before, and neither time have they been able to deliver it... maybe I'll give it a try. I have tried ordering it off Amazon too, but they also were not able to deliver it, despite still listing it...
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Dundonnell


Guido

I should say thankyou though - I will report back if and when I get either of these CDs!
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Dundonnell

Chandos is advertising the fact that they will shortly be recording Dallapiccola's "Cello Concerto" with Paul Watkins as soloist.

I did not know that Dallapiccola had composed a Cello Concerto! Is this the same work as the Dialoghi for Cello and Orchestra?

Guido?