Gian Francesco Malipiero "Per una favola cavalleresca" (for a chivalric tale)

[alberto]

Ten years ago I indicated the above title in a short list of wished recordings.
I have recently missed the release by Naxos (F.La Vecchia, Orch. Sinfonica di Roma, sadly disbanded in 2014).
Now I have got it. The work (1914-1915) consists in four unnamed movements (lasting about half an hour),
deriving from music apparently composed for an intended Arthurian opera.
I found the music impressive and haunting (vague echoes of Pelleas of Debussy and Faurè, just to give an idea), and not fragmentary.
If someone is interested, the couplings (Violin Concertos n.1 and n.2).are in very different, later idiom

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Alberto, the early work at least sounds as if it would be worth investigating - Naxos CD details and audio extracts here.

[eschiss1]

I think the 2nd violin concerto may possibly be a premiere, but there was an LP of Milhaud's 2nd and best-known (... relatively-speaking) violin concerto and the 1st Malipiero violin concerto on Supraphon in 1972 conducted by Smetacek (the Malipiero part was reissued on CD more recently but coupled with Casella's concerto.) (I heard the Malipiero part of the LP not in 1972, when I was 3 years old and not that interested, but somewhat more recently.)

[alberto]

Malipiero First and Second Violin Concertos (coupled to the Busoni violin concerto) have been recorded in 2018 by Sony Italiana (Domenico Nordio,Tito Ceccherini cond., Orch. Sinf. G.Verdi).
Malipiero Second had already been recorded on a Stradivarius Cd (S. Parrino, F.Di Mauro cond., Orchestra della Provincia di Catanzaro).Couplings Rispetti and Strambotti (version for string orchestra), Sinfonia degli Archi, Flute Concerto.

[Mark Thomas]

To return to Per una favola cavalleresca itself, Alberto has characterised the music very well - if you like the early 20th century French impressionist style then this will be right up your street. I was reminded of some of the shorter and less self-indulgent pieces of Delius. The four numbers are unfailingly lyrical, imaginatively orchestrated in muted colours and, although they do tend to meander, there's enough variety to sustain enough interest so none outstays its welcome. The fourth is arguably more advanced in its language than the other three, but the suite as a whole works well.