Martucci symphony 1 & concerto 1 (from concert broadcast?)

[eschiss1]

Much the same program as was noted here in a concert broadcast announcement about 13 years ago, with the same performers, is now being issued on a Myricae Classics CD in early October - Giuseppe Martucci's piano concerto no.1 in D minor (Op.40, 1878) and symphony no.1 in D minor (Op.75, 1888-95). Stefan Malzew conducting the Neubrandenburger Philharmonie, with Pietro Massa, pianist in the concerto. (Both works have been recorded several times now, but I wouldn't describe them as "sung", exactly.)

(The 3rd movement of the symphony can already be streamed at Amazon, and the rest will follow on October 4. I see that the same forces have also recorded the 2nd concerto, released in 2013, coupled with his Op.58 theme and variations, and the notturno Op.70 No.1 as played by Mr. Massa on the one hand, and in its orchestral arrangement on the other.)

[Alan Howe]

This is a straightforward reissue, but welcome nonetheless.

Personally, I'd stick with La Vecchia, D'Avalos or Bakels in the Symphony but this is, of course, an attractive coupling.

If you can find it, the 4-CD reissue on Brilliant Classics of the Symphonies and Piano Concertos conducted by D'Avalos is hard to beat.

[eschiss1]

Reissue of the broadcast or reissue in the more usual sense of having been available commercially between 2011 and now and now being available again? ...

[Alan Howe]

The recording of the Piano Concerto No.1 was made live and originally issued in 2020:
https://www.discogs.com/release/25900693-Giuseppe-Martucci-Pietro-Massa-Neubrandenburger-Philharmonie-Stefan-Malzew-Piano-Concerto-No-1-In-D-
The current re-release has the catalogue number MC72503; the original one (on the same label) had the number MC71.

[Ilja]

It's a very quick performance, shaving well over a minute off most of the movements compared to the competition:

Massa: 13:04 / 9:21 / 8:38
Coggi: 14:57 / 10:01 / 9:27
Caramiello: 15:31 / 10:50 / 10:37

By the way, I see that Myricae have posted the live performance of the entire thing on their YouTube page. The sound on that isn't stellar and the movements are a bit longer, but that's mainly to applause, which I presume will be removed on the final product.

There's also an interview (in German) with pianist Pietro Massa, in which he talks about the origin of the work. I found it interesting how he mentioned that the concerto "is a work that shows off the Italian soul of the composer", because after a cursory listen it seems that is how they play it here. Massi and Malzew portray Martucci as kindred soul to Sgambati and even Saint-Saëns (it was written while the composer was in Paris, after all) rather than following the more traditional view of Martucci as the "Italian Brahms". It is an approach with some interesting consequences, but after a first listen I find it quite convincing.

[Ilja]

A little addendum. Having compared the three versions I now have (mentioned above) of the concerto a number of times, I have to say that hearing the new Massa recording functions as something of a one-way valve: the Caramiello/d'Avalos now sounds impossibly and infuriatingly sluggish to me. Coggi is somewhere in the middle tempo-wise, and the sound is a bit better (although the final Massa recording may have better sound than the live performance recording on YouTube). Moreover, Coggi is a more precise pianist here than Massa, which works out a bit better in the opening of the third movement. But in all other respects, Massa is likely to become the new reference recording for what he shows to be an energetic, youthful work.