Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, born in Venice in 1876, was the son of a well-known Bavarian artist, August Wolf, and a Venetian noblewoman, Emilia Ferrari.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Wolf-Ferrari's aesthetic ideal was one of timeless beauty, believing that art should appeal to sentiment rather than reason, as expressed in his writings 'Considerazioni attuali sulla musica'.
Composer Biography
Despite his father's wish for him to be a painter, Wolf-Ferrari fell in love with music, composing by age seven and sight-reading Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue at eleven.
Interpretation
The writing in all three concertino works on this album is pleasingly anchored to the key, fresh, and full of brio, suggesting a personal Neo-classicism with Baroque touches.
Composer Biography
Wolf-Ferrari added his mother's surname to his father's in 1895 to emphasize his dual cultural roots, which later fueled an inner conflict as Germany and Italy became enemies.
Performer Biography
Andrea Tenaglia, the oboist, won first prize at a Zurich Conservatory workshop in 1998 for best students in Switzerland, performing Richard Strauss's Oboe concerto.
Recording & Production
The Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, led by Francesco La Vecchia, is undertaking a series of recordings for Naxos featuring important compositions by Italian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
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