Sgambati Sinfonia epitalamio & Symphony No.2

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from Naxos:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/sinfonie-2/hnum/11066088

[Mark Thomas]

Unfortunately, the earlier thread which discussed the prospect of a recording of the Sinfonia epitalamio has been lost, so if any members who contributed to it would like to repeat here any of their earlier comments about the background to this work, that would be appreciated.

[Alan Howe]

Mea culpa. Many apologies for losing the earlier posts which, if I remember correctly, included mention of an alternative forthcoming recording by conductor Francesco Attardi, to be issued on Brilliant Classics.

Attardi talks about Sgambati here:
https://messina.gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/cultura/2022/01/14/il-maestro-attardi-sgambati-e-un-musicista-da-riscoprire-domenica-al-via-la-stagione-musicale-a-messina-db855c91-8d36-4ac0-8771-be69284d3842/

...and here:
https://www.flaminioonline.it/Guide/Sgambati/Sgambati-EpitalamioSG47.html

And the incredibly beautiful first movement conducted by Attardi can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0FtHd5ps-Y
Notes accompanying the video:

Performed in Turin on 12 September 1888 on the occasion of the wedding of Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta, former King of Spain, with Letizia Bonaparte, this symphony was conducted for the last time by Giovanni Sgambati at the London Philharmonic Society on 14 May 1891. This latest and most fascinating Symphony n.3 by Sgambati (Rome 1941-1914) - the father of nineteenth-century Italian instrumentalism - is made up of 5 movements. The Symphony was rediscovered by conductor Francesco Attardi and published by Suvini Zerboni (Milan 2019) in a critical edition edited by Francesco Attardi and Lorenzo Casati.

[Richard Moss]

Alan,

You are bang-on with your view on the 1st movement, which I've just listened to.  Sadly (unless I've missed it), no mention on either the NAXOS or Brilliant Classics websites about their release dates.  The JPC site suggests Dec 02, 2022 for the NAXOS version (presumably that is for Europe and we will get it sometime Q1 (or Q2?) next year?.

Sgambati's other orchestral works that I've heard (symphonies, concertos etc) have all, to my untutored ear, hit the mark for being 'romantic' of the first order so if anyone has any better information, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Richard

[Alan Howe]

I've no idea whether the Attardi performance was ever recorded for Brilliant Classics.  I have the Naxos CD on pre-order from jpc.

As far as details of future releases are concerned, labels' own websites are very often not that helpful. The best information is usually to be gleaned from retailers such as jpc or Presto.

[jdperdrix]

I was the author of the deleted post. I got the information of Attardi performing Sgambati's Epitalamio from an interview in Italian he gave after his concert in Messina. I don't remember the link to it. In this interview he mentioned that the Epitalamio together with the second symphony and an Overture (?) would be recorded for Brilliant. That's all I know.

[Alan Howe]

Attardi has already recorded Symphony No.2 (coupled with the Piano Concerto) on the Amadeus label. It was issued in 2015.

All very confusing!

[Richard Moss]

Thanks for the updates - will keep scanning PRESRTO future releases

Cheers

Richard

[jdperdrix]

Attardi has already recorded Symphony No.2 (coupled with the Piano Concerto) on the Amadeus label. It was issued in 2015.

All very confusing!

Here is the link to the interview in Italian: https://www.facebook.com/rtptv.it/videos/234582198863522/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C

He announces the Epitalamio coupled with the second symphony and the Festive Overture.

[hyperdanny]

I was very surprised when I saw the Naxos release, because I knew that the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma had been disbanded....but then I saw the recording dates...

[Alan Howe]

We'll just have to wait and see, I guess. In the meantime we can look forward to the Naxos release.

[rosflute]

I can confirm that the recording of symphony no. 2 was the one made a year before the first public performances in February 2014, and before the orchestra di Roma disbanded and the orchestral set bought from me mysteriously disappeared.

As for the Epitalamio, It seems a shame that Attardi fails in his interviews to give credit to the person who prepared the Epitalamio score for him.

[Alan Howe]

Oh dear. That's a real annoyance. You deserve full credit for your sterling work in the cause of Sgambati.

Do you know why the Naxos recordings have taken so long to be released?

[Alan Howe]

For reference, it's worth having a look back at the thread on Rudner's cpo recording of Symphonies 1 & 2:
https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,6818.0.html

I also note that that recording is now being offered at a knock-down price by jpc:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/giovanni-sgambati-symphonien-nr-1-2/hnum/7971899

[Alan Howe]

Audio excerpts are now available at jpc:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/sinfonie-2/hnum/11066088

To be frank, I don't think the performance of No.2 will be a match for Rudner on cpo, but the main interest here is surely the Epitalamio Symphony.