Wolf-Ferrari, E.: Gioielli Della Madonna Suite (I) / Suite-Concertino, Op. 16 / Opera Excerpts

Featuring

Gianandrea Noseda
Karen Geoghegan
John Bradbury
Peter Dixon
BBC Philharmonic
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Wolf-Ferrari's natural musical idiom anticipated the neo-classical style that would become avant-garde in Western music from the 1920s to the 1950s, exemplified by Stravinsky's 'Pulcinella' and 'The Rake's Progress'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Despite admiring Wagner and Verdi, Wolf-Ferrari preferred composers like Pergolesi, Cimarosa, Mozart, and Rossini as models for his own works.

Performer Biography

Karen Geoghegan, the bassoon soloist on this album, was a runner-up in the 2007 BBC 2 programme 'Classical Star' for her performance of the Hummel Bassoon Concerto.

Composition History

Wolf-Ferrari's early operas, such as 'Il segreto di Susanna', were considered old-fashioned by Italian opera houses, which were looking for works in the style of Puccini or verismo composers.

Compositional Technique

The overture to Wolf-Ferrari's one-act comedy 'Il segreto di Susanna' displays rare contrapuntal mastery by introducing four themes in quick succession and presenting them all simultaneously at the end.

Composer Biography

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's mixed family background—an Italian mother and a German father—is reflected in his name, which he Italianized and expanded to include his mother's maiden name.

Composer Biography

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, an Italian opera composer, was more successful in Germany than in his home country, with most of his operas first staged in German opera houses.