Rolla: Viola Concertos, Symphony in D, Tantum ergo

Featuring

Maurizio Schiavo
Simonide Braconi
Salvo Vitale
Il Demetrio
Alessandro Rolla

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Rolla was among the first in Italy to perform Beethoven's symphonies and quartets and Mozart's operas, drawing valuable influences for his own compositions.

Performer Biography

Simonide Braconi, the violist, is also a composer with works published by Sonzogno and MAP Musical Editions, and his premieres have been performed at Teatro Alla Scala and Berlin Philharmonie.

Composer Biography

Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841) was the conductor of the La Scala opera house orchestra in Milan from 1802 to 1833 and a teacher at the Milan Conservatory from its foundation in 1808 to 1835.

Performer Biography

Simonide Braconi, the violist on this recording, was selected by Riccardo Muti as Principal Viola at the Teatro alla Scala and for the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala of Milan in 1994.

Recording & Production

The recording of this album was part of a larger cultural project that involved the entire city of Pavia, Italy.

Compositional Technique

Rolla introduced innovative elements in instrumental technique, laying the foundations for what became the Milanese school of string playing.

Compositional Technique

Rolla's contemporaries unanimously considered him the 'inventor of the sound of the viola' due to his unique exploration of the instrument's timbric and expressive resources.