Czerny ViottiP I A N O C O N C E R T O S

David Boldrini pianoRami Musicali Orchestra

Carl Czerny Concerto for Piano 4 Hands and Orchestra

in C Op.1537. Allegro con brio 12’188. Adagio espressivo 7’129. Rondo alla polacca, Vivace 12’31

David Boldrini & Elena Pinciaroli piano four hands

Rami Musicali Orchestra Augusto Vismara conductor

Giovanni Battista Viotti Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra

No.3 in A Wi910. Allegro 10’2011. Rondo, Allegro 6’40

David Boldrini piano Augusto Vismara violin

Rami Musicali Orchestra Massimo Belli conductor

Carl Czerny Piano Concerto No.1 in A minor Op.2141. Allegro moderato 16’322. Adagio con moto 4’073. Rondo, Allegro con anima 11’30

Giovanni Battista Viotti Concerto No.19 in G minor Wi19

version for piano and orchestra4. Maestoso e grandioso 17’085. Andante sostenuto 8’306. Allegretto con moto 11’16

David Boldrini piano

Rami Musicali Orchestra Massimo Belli conductor

to the civilization represented by Beethoven or Schubert. Biedermeier suggested ordinariness, and ways of adapting to, and possibly taking advantage of, ineluctable historical and social reality. Unlike Schubert, the Biedermeier musicians were all successful, internationally active and intent on developing sociality in the form of public concerts by means of which they came into contact with new audiences desirous of events that roused the imagination and evoked exciting imaginary worlds.

Paying for tickets for a public concert was a middle-class rite rooted in the mid-17th century, created in order to extend the enjoyment of instrumental music to audiences wider than those who attended the select, aristocratic events financed by patrician patrons. In the 19th century associations were founded to promote concert cycles in the most capacious halls possible.

Within this framework of social ritual it soon became evident that the piano should be audible even to the back rows of the audience, and that the sound should prevail, when necessary, over that of an orchestra of fifty musicians playing fortissimo within a spacious theatre filled with people. Today the piano is still evolving and adapting to changing conditions.

The Concerto in A minor for piano and orchestra Op.214 was written in Vienna in 1829 and published the following year in Leipzig, with a dedication to Amédée Méraux, the French musicologist and composer. It calls for an ensemble consisting of strings, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets and timpani.

The initial Allegro moderato opens with a solemn orchestral introduction that reveals Czerny’s undeniable skill as a composer, as well as his ability to conceal within the orchestration a few subtle references to Beethoven. The piano then boldly bursts in, backed up by an insistent rhythmical development. This first movement is a true compendium of the technical difficulties that pianists of the time were likely to address. From the point of view harmony, the cadenzas come across as somewhat emphatic in their search for the static balance required for virtuoso performance.

The serene Adagio begins with an orchestral exposition of a distinctly linear,

Carl CzernyConcerto for piano and orchestra in A minor Op.214.Concerto for piano four-hands and orchestra in C major Op.153.From the second half of the nineteenth century on, Carl Czerny has been a name familiar to practically anyone who has studied the piano, even for just a few lessons. Born in 1791 in Vienna, where he died in 1857, Czerny is rightly considered the founder of teaching methods for the piano. His father Wensel, himself a pianist of some repute, introduced his son to the musical world at the tender age of three, and given Carl’s rapid progress and alacrity in learning the great classic works for the keyboard, by the time the boy was nine he was already studying under Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Antonio Salieri. In 1803 he had the opportunity to be heard by Ludwig van Beethoven, who accepted him among his own pupils and for the next three years gave him twice-weekly lessons. Their relationship became one of great esteem and friendship, to the extent that Czerny was later to play Beethoven’s complete sonatas on various occasions, and to premiere the “Emperor” Concerto No.5.

To understand exactly how Czerny contributed to the development of musical thought calls for reference to a specific period in history and culture: what is known as the “Biedermeierzeit”, or the Biedermeier age, which began with the Congress of Vienna in 1815, ended in 1848 with the March Revolution, and involved the States of the German Confederation and the Austrian Empire. In political terms the outstanding feature of this period was the restoration of the German-speaking States and their rapid development following the fall of Napoleon. It was a time in which the middle class was very much on the rise, and the word Biedermeier began to spread around 1850, initially in disparaging terms. Made up of two parts (Bieder meaning simple but worthy, and Meier, a common German surname), the term derived from a character created by the writers Adolf Kussmaul and Ludwig Eichrodt in poems that parodied people of the era, depicting them as petit-bourgeois, apolitical and conservative, with no interests beyond professional achievement and family life.

From the musical point of view, the Biedermeierzeit can be seen as the antithesis

intuitive melody, possibly borrowed from some Austrian folk tune. The orchestra then reworks the main subject several times over, varying the harmonic impact and allowing the soloist to come to the fore in pianissimo flights of sound. Once the thematic material has all been presented, the orchestra and piano conclude on the dominant to allow the use of anacrusis at the outset of the Rondo, a characterful, danceable movement featuring an immediately engaging motif. The fast arpeggios of the solo part pave the way for rapid progressions, with sudden tonal changes, scales in sixths and thirds, and major intervals that bring the soloist’s titanic achievement into the limelight, to the absolute stupefaction of the audience. Echoes of earlier rhythms and melodies then reappear in an almost rhapsodic atmosphere, reminding listeners of what has gone before.

The Concerto for piano four-hands and orchestra in C major, Op.153 is thought to have been written in Vienna in 1825, and printed two years later in Leipzig, with no dedication. The ensemble calls for strings, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets and two timpani.

The Allegro con brio opens with a clear, memorable thematic idea revealing hints of Rossini operas. From the orchestral point of view, meticulous attention is paid to each section, identified by means of specific musical idioms that allow for an enjoyable interplay of mutual imitation. The piano stands out with great clarity and a touch of belligerence against this distinctive backdrop of sound, and in so doing reveals the impressive potential of four hands on the keyboard.

The expressive, melodious Adagio features a subject of classical evocative impact, with an abundance of trills and flourishes that emphasize the sobriety of the theme and recall the human voice in song. The orchestra is first reduced to a few patches of sound, and then disappears when the piano prevails.

The title Rondo alla Polacca clearly refers to the movement of the same name in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, although it differs from it considerably from the structural point of view. Czerny makes use of an incisive, confident rhythmical

element, which he enriches with a wide range of virtuoso piano passages. The harmonic palette is much richer than it was in the earlier movements, heading naturally towards modulations by means of arpeggios based on theoretical formulae that were in vogue at the time. It is as though Czerny conceived of this concerto as a way of testing the entire expressive potential of a piano entrusted to four hands. Ranging from almost imperceptible pianissimi to deafening fortissimo, the two pianists weave a tapestry of surprising complexity. Czerny nevertheless remains in full control of his didactic skills and understanding of the instrument, since the hands of the two pianists never get in each other’s way despite the virtuoso nature of parts of the score.

Although the piano unquestionably maintains the lead role in these concertos, to the careful listener it will also be evident that Czerny pays all due attention to the orchestra, which he handles with great skill and brilliance. His instinctive, uninhibited mastery of melody, harmony, rhythm and counterpoint allow him to invest the genre with surprising innovations that prepare the way for Schumann, Liszt, Saint-Saëns and many others.

Giovanni Battista ViottiConcerto for piano and orchestra in G minor Wi19Concerto for piano with violin obbligato in A major Wi9Giovanni Battista Viotti (Fontanetto Po, 1755 – London, 1824) is rightly considered the father of modern Italian violin playing; to add to which he was also one of the all time first concert performers, in the contemporary sense of the word. Born into a modest family in the north-western part of mainland Italy, then under the rule of the Kingdom of Sardinia, by the age of six he had already revealed his talent for music. He studied in Turin, under the guidance of Gaetano Pugnani, heir to the tradition of Arcangelo Corelli, and was soon playing with various ensembles in northern Italy. Pay

was bad, however, and in 1780 he decided to tour throughout Europe with Pugnani, taking part in concerts that spurred him on to perform in Dresden for Prince-Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, in Berlin for Frederick II, in Poland for Stanislaw II and in St. Petersburg at the court of the Empress Catherine the Great.

In the early days of 1782 Viotti moved to Paris, where the production of musical events, including opera, was a well-established business. The city not only offered a wide range of concerts, both public and private, but also a flourishing market for publishing, which is why it soon became a destination for numerous Italian musicians. These included the violinists Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni, Felice Giardini and Giuseppe Cambini, who all found the city to be singularly receptive. As for Viotti, his remarkable skills as a performer and composer led him straight to the limelight. His first concert took place on 17 March 1782 and met with enormous acclaim, to the extent that over the following two seasons he played twenty-seven times at the Concert Spirituel. Within the space of two years, however, he came to realize that his finances would improve if he depended less on the voluble Parisian audiences and could largely work for private patrons. He thus headed for the court of Queen Marie Antoinette in Versailles. His appointment as court musician and the fact that he had at his disposal a regular orchestra favoured his activity as a composer. From 1789 Viotti also became an impresario, taking over the direction of the Théâtre de Monsieur. In July 1792, however, overwhelmed by the pressure of the revolution and guilty of having enjoyed the Queen’s esteem, he found himself forced to make a hasty escape to London.

He debuted in the English capital on 7 February 1793 at the Hanover Square Concerts, continuing to perform in concerts there through to 1798. Thanks to his organizational abilities and entrepreneurship he was named Acting Manager of the King’s Theatre, and in 1797 took over from Wilhelm Cramer as the orchestral conductor. This position allowed him to cultivate numerous important contacts, including Franz Joseph Haydn, who frequently invited him to perform at Benefit Concerts.

In March 1798 Viotti was banned from Great Britain on suspicion of Jacobinism, given his frequent contacts with France and with people close to the revolution. He thus headed for Schenefeld, near Hamburg, where he lived for almost two years, turning down all offers of concert performances and devoting himself entirely to teaching and composition. In 1799 he left Germany and in 1801 returned to London, where he got involved in the wine trade, an activity that oscillated between success and financial disarray. He continued to compose and to play in private circles, however, though he never returned to performance in public concerts.

In 1818 he returned to Paris, where he renewed contacts with an old acquaintance, the former Count of Provence who had since become Louis XVIII. Thanks to the sovereign he was made director of the Théâtre Italien, and shortly afterwards of the Opéra. This latter appointment did not last long, however, since the assassination in February 1820 of the Duke of Berry, the King’s nephew, while Viotti was in London, “absent pour ses propres affairs”, earned him the aversion of both the public and the monarchy. The magnificent theatre was closed for some time, and in 1823 the composer was obliged to return to England, where he died the following year.

Giovanni Battista Viotti played an important role in the history of music on account of the energy he devoted to the violin. He was not only a widely acclaimed performer and a composer sensitive to the requirements of string instruments, he also devoted much time and thought to teaching. Recognized throughout Europe for the novelty of his approach to learning the violin, he was a dominant figure among concert violinists as well as in publishing. Heir to the Italian tradition of Corelli, Vivaldi, Locatelli and Tartini, he became a model for French instrumental music of the period, reconciling virtuoso technique with a distinctly Italian gift for melody.

This short biographical introduction will probably have readers wondering what the connection is between Viotti and the piano. There is evidence to suggest that he was actually a skilled keyboard player who paid due attention to the potential and chromatic range of what was becoming the quintessential middle-class instrument. He was the first to present Parisian audiences with a more modern, European style

Viotti’s talent evolved was that of the “Stile galante”, a musical phenomenon that took root in Italy, France and Germany during the second half of the 1700s. This galant style aimed at rescuing music from the weight of ornamentation typical of the earlier late-baroque age, thereby focusing on the purity of melodic line rather than on the construction of harmony. The concertos represent the transition from this style towards a sensibility that could be described as pre-romantic, opening up the way for the essentially Italian virtuoso style of Paganini, whereby the soloist prevails over the orchestra. They also herald to some extent the principles underlying Beethoven’s concertos.

Viotti was a contemporary of Mozart’s, a small number of whose works he knew and appreciated. Following his arrival in Paris, he abandoned the typical features of the Stile galante and soon absorbed the influences of the music then in vogue in northern Europe, accentuating the virtuoso traits of the solo instrument and increasing the dramatic content by means of continual changes of key and contrast. Within the overall framework of the twenty-nine concertos composed in the space of thirty years, various significant changes of musical idiom come to the fore, while the structure of the movements, especially the first, grows increasingly flexible and expansive. In his handling of the first movement, Viotti oscillates between two and three sections within a solid structure with recapitulation, indifferent to the reproduction of certain formal devices. The development is an opportunity for showing off passages requiring great skill, in antithesis to the assertive atmosphere of the exposition, and the recapitulation, with its frequent reversal of the order of presentation of the subjects, is often shortened. Less preoccupied by thematic development as a unitary structural principle, Viotti focuses his interest on the possibilities opened up by certain structural elements. Rather than being developed in the motif, the subject is generally conceived as a way of accentuating expressive impact. Variously handled elements of thematic material are thus inserted between one section and another, and punctuation, dialogue and tessitura together contribute to the overall pace of the work, which is also shaped by the impact of rhetorical

of playing that tended towards stunning effects. In so doing he came into contact with eminent pianists who were attracted by the idea of captivating audiences with transcriptions of famous pieces that Viotti originally wrote for the violin.

There were various reasons for devoting time to transcriptions. It was a way of reaching wider audiences and of gaining renown, and also a useful vehicle for teaching. Moreover, for a composer it would have been interesting to hear how a given work sounded when played by on different instrument. When it was not Viotti himself who made the transcriptions, his pupils, colleagues and friends were happy to turn their hand to it as a homage to the master. Certainly in this case, as with the transcriptions of Clementi and Pleyel, the operation was perfectly in keeping with the tradition of transcription that flourished during the 18th century.

Various publishers produced volumes of Viotti’s works, which thus reached a relatively widespread clientele. The original versions, which were often played for the first time by the composer himself in a theatre or concert hall, were extremely popular, as were the transcriptions for different instruments. This accounts for the extreme difficulty inherent in cataloguing Viotti’s oeuvre, a task of particular musicological complexity. Only in recent times has it been possible to identify the works with due precision. Alongside around one hundred original compositions there are as many transcriptions, and it is not always easy to establish which was published first, the original work or the transcription. As things stand today, we have two catalogues to refer to, the first of which was compiled by the Italian musicologist and composer Remo Giazotto in 1956 and published by Ricordi, and the second in 1984 by Chappell White in New York.

To contribute to understanding of the works recorded for this CD we must inevitably refer to the concertos for violin and orchestra from which the transcriptions were made. The twenty-nine concertos for violin constitute the most important section of the Viotti catalogue. With the exception of the first, which was published in Berlin, they were all written in Paris and London, and therefore reflect the composer’s entire artistic and stylistic development. The background environment in which

effects. The slow central movements, often in AABA form, resemble a Romanza in which the passionate lyricism of the soloist is brought to the fore by the skilful coloratura of the orchestra. The last movements (often in the form of a Rondo) tend to feature a combination of erudition and folk elements, with dance-like rhythms and bold virtuoso passages that heighten the dialogue and counterpoint between soloist and orchestra, increasing the dramatic impact of the entire piece by means of audacious modulation, tonal contrast and heroic “Tutti” passages.

The dramatic element with its “Solo-Tutti” alternation turns into a more intimate dialogue between the individual instruments of the orchestra, and between this and the soloist. Each instrument has a voice of its own, and this allows the composer to establish different types of dialogue, touching on a wide range of expressive possibilities that ultimately contribute to the overall conception of the formal structure. Viotti’s violin concertos were to influence all later compositions for the instrument within the framework of romanticism: most notably, Niccolò Paganini’s concertos, which reveal distinct echoes of Viotti’s work; but also the violin concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, where hints of the wistful melodiousness of the older composer also come clearly to the fore.

The violin concerto from which the first piano work derives was the last of its sort composed by Viotti in Paris. Written in March 1791, probably for J.P.J. Rode, it was premiered at the Théâtre Feydeau and displayed a new degree of maturity, greater wealth of dramatic and stylistic expression, and a new approach to the violino concertante. Along with the four concertos that preceded it, the work certainly exercised a remarkable influence over the generation of French violinists who consorted with Viotti, including R. Kreutzer and F. Baillot. The last six Parisian concertos tend to be pre-romantic in atmosphere, offering glimpses of an approach to orchestral colour that was to come into its own during the London years.

Described as the “Dix-neuvième Concerto à Violon principal, deux Violons, Alto, Basse, deux Hautbois, deux Cors, Flute et Clarinette”, it conceives of the wind instruments as a harmonic support and a tool for amalgamating sound. In his book

The Art of Violin Playing, Carl Flesch declares that the invention and exposition of the subjects in the first movement alone would be enough to do honour even to Mozart. To which E. Baillot adds that the initial passage of the Maestoso is a fine example of temps dérobé (syncopation) that reveals the composer’s torment. Viotti was proud of this work, carefully editing and revising it prior to publication.

The concerto for piano catalogued as Wi19 bears the following title: “(…) Concerto (…) en sol mineur arrangé pour le clavecin ou forte-piano, avec l’accompagnement d’un violon ou de tout l’orchestre (ad libitum)”. By way of an introduction we read that “Ce Concerto a été compose pour le piano-forte et not pour le violon, il peut être joué avec ou sans accompagnement sur les anciens forte-piano, ou sur les modernes avec les notes ajoutées”. Published for the first time in 1791, it was premiered at the Théâtre de Monsieur that same year by Daniel Gottlieb Steilbelt, the eccentric virtuoso pianist who had transcribed the work and whose connections included Érard and Pleyel.

As with the version for violin, this concerto was a step forward in the construction of solo concertos with orchestral accompaniments. The solidity of the symphonic structure allowed the soloist to tackle new forms of invention and technique that were far removed from the classical tradition and much closer to the romantic ideal of the celebrity soloist. The ideas expressed are lively, youthful and intuitive, full of energy and rich in admirable thematic material. The first movement, an Allegro maestoso, begins with a brief, insistently rhythmic orchestral introduction that is somewhat military in tone, with the main subject immediately entrusted to the violins. Solidly inexorable in its development, the piano part is rich in virtuoso passages, and yet also respectful of the purity of melody.

The central section is a placid Adagio, ma non troppo heralded by an orchestral introduction at the end of which the piano comes in with a subject of evident classical origins, rich in embellishments and largely accompanied by a ponderous basso albertino. Classical harmonic cadenzas and an almost Mozartian sense of melody reveal the composer’s skill in creating delectable cantabile passages from the simplest

ingredients, with the orchestra providing gentle support. The Rondo at the end features elegant themes that bring the particular timbre and the keyboard techniques of the piano to the fore. The orchestra continues to back up and imitate the soloist, which maintains its dominant role throughout.

The concerto for piano with violin obbligato catalogued as Wi9 derives from the violin concerto composed in Paris between 1783 and 1786, and published by Sieber. Viotti was enormously proud of this work, to the extent that he himself made the transcription for violin and piano in 1788. The Sieber edition of 1847 bears the title: “IIIème concerto pour clavecin ou forte-piano avec violon obligé, deux violons d’accompagnement, alto, basse, flutes, et cors ad libitum”.

The work consists of two movements, because the middle movement, for some as yet unknown reason, was not transcribed. The first movement is an Andante that opens with a solemn orchestral introduction. The soloists then come in, creating a serried dialogue in highly expressive terms that pay little attention to form and structure. The almost rhapsodic succession of melodic elements and virtuoso details alternates constantly between “Soli” and “Tutti” passages. Yet despite the evident compositional freedom, there is no waning in the meticulous pursuit of melodic elegance underpinned by a well-grounded harmonic structure. It is interesting to note that the frequent alternation of major and minor keys helps focus the listener’s attention. The Rondo opens with the exposition by the piano of the first subject, which is then taken up by the violin with diminutions. Here again the orchestra simply accompanies and imitates the salient passages of the two soloists. Emphatic use is made of bassi albertini, which contribute to the flow of the work and provide it with structural confidence. Particularly noteworthy is the constant play of arpeggios introduced early on by the two solo instruments, who continue to weave them into the musical tapestry through to the end. Likewise interesting is the constant alternation between binary and ternary rhythms. Both solo instruments are endowed with the necessary space for making their mark with a succession of variations featuring virtuoso and melodic passages.

With extraordinary naturalness, Giovanni Battista Viotti reveals in these two piano compositions how well-constructed melody and harmony backed by confident rhythmic variety are the ingredients of absolute music; that is, of works that can express themselves fully when played by any instrument.© Lorenzo AncillottiTranslation by Kate Singleton

Recording: 14-16 June & 15-23 September 2014, Santa Monaca Church, Florence, ItalyProducer: BartokstudioEngineer: Claudio GattusoEditing and Mastering: Raffaele CacciolaCover image: George Augustus Frederick, 6th Earl of Chesterfield, on his favourite hack by Sir Hercules, 1837, by William Henry Davis (1803-1849)p & © 2016 Brilliant Classics

Thanks toRaffaele Cacciola and Bartok Studio

Sabrina Rossi for the original translation of the texts