Rolla's music, unlike many of his Italian contemporaries, was strongly influenced by the Viennese classical masters like Mozart and Haydn, sometimes even featuring literal musical quotations.
Composer Biography
Alessandro Rolla, born in Pavia in 1757, was a celebrated soloist on both violin and viola, particularly the viola, during his long career.
Compositional Technique
Rolla's quartets belong to the 'quatuor concertant' style, popular in Paris, which emphasized brilliant, smooth writing with solo and bravura sections, especially for the violin, making them technically demanding.
Compositional Technique
The quartets feature a classical four-movement structure, often placing the minuet as the second movement, a pattern later adopted by Niccolò Paganini in his own string quartets.
Composition History
The Quartets Op. 5 on this album were dedicated to Charles IV, King of Spain, possibly at the suggestion of someone from the Milanese court, as Milan was then a French vassal state.
Composer Biography
Rolla served as first violin at La Scala in Milan from 1803 to 1833 and also taught violin and viola at the newly founded Milan Conservatory starting in 1808.
Performer Biography
The Quartetto Rolla is a founding member ensemble, with each musician having extensive experience in Italian orchestras and chamber music, and having won numerous national and international awards.
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