Alfredo Casella, an Italian composer, spent nineteen formative years in Paris and embraced diverse musical influences from French, German, Eastern European, and Russian traditions.
Performer Biography
Sun Hee You, the pianist on this recording, began playing piano at age four and debuted as a soloist with Seoul's Yangeum Orchestra at thirteen.
Recording & Production
The Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma is undertaking a series of recordings for Naxos featuring significant compositions by Italian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Casella's 'third style,' which characterizes all the music on this album, was established by his Three Fourteenth-Century Songs and aimed for a 'classical transparency' inspired by the Tuscan landscape.
Compositional Technique
The Partita features an unusual orchestral lineup, with strings joined by a single oboe, three clarinets, three trumpets, and timpani, often used in juxtaposed blocks of sound.
Composition History
Casella's Partita for piano and small orchestra, whose name reflects its Italian Baroque instrumental ancestry, was premiered in October 1925 with Casella himself as the soloist.
Historical Context
Casella's 'third style' coincided almost exactly with the ventennio fascista, the two decades of Fascism in Italy, and he behaved like a political supporter of Mussolini.
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