I conducted this piece in 2004 with my philarmonic orchestra and our amatorial choir. The work wasn't simple, but I think we have achieved a good result. From what you can hear, I love to conduct it fast! ;)
The Magnificat is the earliest surviving vocal work of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788). In June 1749, still during the lifetime of Johann Sebastian Bach, the City Council of Leipzig was trying a possible successor to the critically ill Kantor. Bach put his two talented sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel close, also to seek to follow him. While Carl Philipp Emanuel set to music the Magnificat, Wilhelm Friedemann wrote an Advent cantata. But neither of the two sons had success, finally Johann Gottlob Harrer was given the post of cantor of St. Thomas.
Carl Philipp Emanuel's composition represents a modern style, the direct comparison with the style of the father . In Hamburg Bach changed the instrumentation and added trumpets and timpani in the outer movements and the "Fecit potentiam" . The original version was known throughout Europe in numerous copies.
On April 9, 1786 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Hamburg conducted a charity concert. The program included three of his most representative works: the Symphony in D major, Wq 183/1 of 1780, the Magnificat and the Cantata Christmas of 1776 for double choir.
The Elgar's Instroduction and Allegro for strings is one of the most interesting piece of this english composer. I had the opportunity to conduct in 2004 with my chamber orchestra "Euterpe", enlarged for the occasion with other musicians. This is the live recording posted on my Youtube channel:
This piece was composed in 1905, played by the London Symphony Orchestra and dedicated on Samuel Sanford, an american pianist and educator who brought Elgar's music to american attention.
Structure
The piece opens with a tutti descending fanfare, which segues into a major-keymoderato section, interspersed by an Allegretto e poco stringendo section consisting of two measures in length. Foreshadowing into a slow, lyrical theme played by the solo viola, Elgar cascades between solo voice and orchestra by use of echo. Elgar writes that this theme is a quotation of a song sung by a distant voice that he had heard during a holiday in Wales.[3] An expressive, romantic section leads into a recapitulation of the opening fanfare and Welsh theme, ending the Introduction and transitioning jovially into the Allegro.
The Allegro begins with a theme in G major built around a quarter-eighth-eighth note motif. 21 measures of nonstop sixteenth-notes build from piano to a powerful forte as the piece arrives at a hemiola-infused G major restatement of the Introduction's opening fanfare. Instead of a development section as would be expected in traditional sonata form, a new theme is introduced, a vigorous fugue in which the piece returns to the opening key of G minor. In a letter to his good friend A. J. Jaeger ("Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations), Elgar referred to this section as a "devil of a fugue." After the fugue concludes, the piece's themes are all recapitulated in G major, initially begun by a unison orchestra before dividing across echo between orchestra and solo quartet. With the Welsh theme repeating a succession of three times before striking a momentous ƒƒƒ, on which the orchestra is in unison again (see Polyphony), it is this time echoed by the solo quartet, a change from the rest of the piece. The Welsh theme appears in all its splendour in a triumphant coda for the fifth and final time, before ending with a ternary perfect cadence followed by a pizzicato G major chord.
mercoledì 1 agosto 2012
Silence and dark before the lights turn on in the auditorium.
The heart plays an entire symphony that the brain tries to silence. Sensations that has the privilege of experiencing only an artist!
"A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." Leopold Stokowski
How would have wrote his music Johann Sebastian Bach,
if he was born in the nineteenth century and had to compose for a great
symphony orchestra? This is what they ask themselves many composers and
musicians from a hundred years or so. One of these was the great conductor
Leopold Stokowski who transcribed many works of the great German composer for
symphony orchestra.
But the decidedly romantic interpretation of this
transcriptions, sparked some purist critics
who spoke of sacrilege. And today? With the rivers of ink have been poured on
how it should be interpret the baroque music, especially Bach, performances
like those of the great Leopold would perhaps unimaginable in our area.
The interpretation of the music of the seventeenth and
eighteenth century has faced in recent years a progressive crystallization.
Everywhere in Italy and in Europe have arisen chairs of baroque instruments and
many manuals have been written with strict rules for the interpretation of
baroque music. This subtracts more and more freedom to the musicians, who
should have the right to be as close as possible to that which was the way to
perform this music at the time, both totally reinterpret it, molding in according to his own time and culture,
giving new life to the music!
We also forget that the Baroque was the era of
fantasy, of the excess of improvisation, of the performer liberty. So, they are
welcome detailed studies on baroque performance practice (but I remember that,
having no records, it is impossible to reconstruct exactly the ancient way of
playing), and also increase the philological performances with original
instruments. But avoid to pontificate on what you can do and what not, saying
that experimentation about new ways of interpreting a composer is a product of
populist subculture, as if the musicians has become a mere executor of ideas
imposed by other.
The Music is alive. Music is life and like life,
cannot be reined in patterns and codicils.
Through Leopold Stokowski’s fascinating and persuasive
orchestrations, contemporaries people may find the curiosity to approach also
the “original” Bach.
Come avrebbe scritto la
sua musica Johann Sebastian Bach se fosse nato nell’Ottocento ed avesse avuto a
disposizione una grande orchestra sinfonica? Questo è ciò che si chiedono molti
compositori da un centinaio di anni a questa parte. Uno di questi fu il grande
direttore d’orchestra e compositore Leopold Stokowski il quale approntò diverse
trascrizioni per orchestra sinfonica di molte opere del grande compositore
tedesco.
L’interpretazione
decisamente romantica che questo direttore diede alle sue trascrizioni ( in alcuni casi,
gli originali bachiani possono risultare eccessivamente appesantiti), scatenarono alcuni critici puristi che gridarono al sacrilegio.
Ed oggi? Con i fiumi d’inchiostro
che si sono versati sul modo in cui si deve interpretare la musica barocca ed
in particolare Bach, esecuzioni come quelle del grande Leopold sarebbero forse impensabili dalle nostre parti.
L’interpretazione della
musica del ‘600 - '700 è andata incontro, in questi ultimi anni, ad
una progressiva cristallizzazione. Ovunque in Italia e all’estero sono sorte
cattedre di strumento barocco, dove viene insegnata quella che DEVE essere l’interpretazione
da dare a questi brani. Sottraendo sempre più libertà al musicista, che dovrebbe avere sempre il diritto sia di avvicinarsi il più possibile a quello che era il modo di eseguire tale musica all'epoca, sia di reinterpretarla completamente, plasmandola in base al suo tempo ed alla sua cultura, facendola vibrare di una nuova linfa!
Ci si dimentica inoltre che il barocco era l’epoca della fantasia, degli eccessi, dei virtuosismi
improvvisati, della libertà dell’esecutore all’interno della regola, della
sperimentazione. Quindi, ben vengano
studi approfonditi sulla prassi esecutiva dell’epoca barocca, ben vengano
insegnanti che ci comunicano come si pensa si suonasse all’epoca (e dico si
pensa perché, non avendo registrazioni, è impossibile ricostruire l’esatto
antico modo di suonare, come pretende di fare qualcuno) e aumentino pure le
esecuzioni filologiche con strumenti antichi. Ma si eviti di pontificare su
cosa si può fare e cosa no, bollando le sperimentazioni o nuovi modi di
interpretare un compositore come prodotti di sottocultura di stampo populista,
proponendo in maniera dogmatica questa o quella norma esecutiva, quasi che il
musicista sia divenuto un mero esecutore di idee imposte da altri e che ciò che
lo differenzia da un altro musicista si debba limitare esclusivamente al
proprio bagaglio tecnico e non alla propria capacità interpretativa.
La Musica è viva ed è vita e come la vita non
può essere imbrigliata all’interno di schemi e codicilli. Ben vengano quindi
anche trascrizioni come quelle di Leopold Stokowski, che vi allego in questo
post, trascrizioni decisamente affascinanti, molto più vicine al modo di “sentire”
dei nostri contemporanei, soprattutto di quelli che sono totalmente a digiuno
di musica classica, e che grazie alla mediazione di queste trascrizioni possono trovare la curiosità per avvicinarsi al Bach “originale”.
In this last days I’m preparing my last
concert with my new orchestra: the “Orchestra della Compagnia degli Artisti di
Ottocento Napoletano” in Portici (Naples, Italy). With our 26 musicians we are
becoming one of the most important cultural realities of our region!
Our
headquarters is located in the prestigious building of the Marchioness of
Cesaro Pennese, now propriety of Archbishopric of Naples.
We hold our
concert “intra moenia” in the chapel of the palace. We are going to perform our
sixth concert and we are followed by an increasingly large and enthusiastic audience.
Our
Orchestra is not one of those artistic conglomerates, destined to disappear
miserably, that occasionally arise in Italy in correspondence of the rare donations of public money
intended for the music. We aren’t a musical group that has as its sole target
the subsistence of its members. We are much more than that…
The Compagnia
degli Artisti and his Orchestra are heralds of a great project called “Ottocento
Napoletano”.
This
project aims to create a real renaissance of Naples and Southern Italy, through
the promotion of our culture, our history and our traditions. And by culture we
mean not only the field of fine arts,
but also our artistic handicraft and our great culinary traditions.
“Beauty
will save the world” said Dostoevskij. Us, through the beauty of arts, want to
awaken the conscience.
We want to
demonstrate that in our region it’s possible to build and live an alternative
to social, moral and institutional degradation, which now has reached an
endemic state in our land.
Pursuing
this project, we have the opportunity to fight the Camorra and crime, that
derives strength from ignorance of the people, by stagnation of the status quo and from the image of our land as a place where people,
especially younger, are precluded any hope of social and moral emancipation,
because nothing will change.
Besides to
the diffusion of culture, we are planning, always with our self financing, the
future opening of a music school and other initiative s that will give the
opportunity to children at risk of finding an opportunity in the art, removing
them from the hands of criminals.
Il 22 aprile ho tenuto una conferenza su uno dei più grandi compositori della scuola napoletana: Nicola Antonio Zingarelli, nato a Napoli nel 1752 e morto a Torre del Greco nel 1837.
La conferenza, dal titolo "Nicolò Zingarelli: il compositore che sfidò Napoleone" è stata organizzata dall' Archeoclub d'Italia presso lo stupendo museo dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano. Allego qui un pò di materiale sull'evento e sul compositore, per farvi conoscere questa grande figura di uomo e musicista.
Prima però voglio ringraziare di cuore la dott. Michela Tappeto e la prof.ssa Marika Galloro dell'Archoclub per avermi dato la possibilità di parlare di questo grande musicista e per aver preparato con cura e professionalità l'evento. Ringrazio il dott. Marcello Martini, direttore dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano per l'amicizia e la cortese ospitalità in quel luogo magico ed i miei allievi, Brunella Gaglione e Davide Maiello per aver eseguito con cura, in prima assoluta, alcuni duetti inediti dello stesso Zingarelli. Infine ringrazio gli alunni del Liceo Classico di Castellammare di Stabia per aver partecipato numerosi all'evento.
L'annuncio dell' evento:
In occasione della XIV settimana della cultura, promossa dal Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali nel periodo 14/22 aprile 2012, Archeoclub d’Italia, sede di Torre del Greco, organizza l’evento “Nicolò Zingarelli: il compositore che sfidò Napoleone”, una conferenza-concerto sul celebre musicista partenopeo, morto a Torre del Greco il 5 maggio nel 1837. L’evento si svolgerà presso il Museo dell’Osservatorio Vesuviano (via dell’Osservatorio 14, Ercolano), diretto dal dott. Marcello Martini e già sede di altre iniziative Archeoclub, durante la mattinata di domenica 22 aprile, dalle ore 10.00 alle ore 13.30 circa. Il maestro dott. Leopoldo Fontanarosa, violinista e musicologo, farà conoscere ai presenti l’importanza storica ed artistica di Zingarelli (di cui quest’anno ricorre il 260° anniversario dalla nascita). Verranno eseguiti in prima assoluta dei duetti per violino che Zingarelli scrisse per i suoi allievi e che il maestro Fontanarosa eseguirà assieme ai suoi giovani allievi Brunella Gaglione e Davide Maiello. Il pubblico, inoltre, prima del concerto, accompagnati dai ricercatori dell’Istituto, avrà la possibilità di visitare l’importante Museo dell’Osservatorio, dove sono custodite preziose strumentazioni relative alle prime indagini geofisiche. I volontari torresi di Archeoclub e il presidente Michela Tappeto, infine, durante la mattinata saranno lieti di dare delucidazioni ed informazioni sulle numerose attività associative a coloro che lo desiderano.
Nicola Antonio Zingarelli: il
musicista che sfidò Napoleone.
Sulla
facciata rosea di un edificio antico che si erge a Torre del Greco, di fronte
alla chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, spicca una piccola lapide bianca.
Questa lapide è dedicata a Nicola Antonio Zingarelli, principe dei musicisti,
che in quella casa trascorse i suoi ultimi anni di vita, morendovi nel 1837.
Grande compositore, maestro di cappella al Duomo di Milano ed in Vaticano era
uno dei compositori preferiti da Napoleone, ma oggi, anche tra i musicisti,
sono davvero in pochi a serbarne la memoria. In occasione della prima
esecuzione mondiale, a Torre del Greco, di due suoi quartetti per archi, mi
sembra giusto tracciarne un ricordo. Zingarelli nacque a Napoli il 4 aprile del
1752 da Riccardo Toda Zingarelli e Teresa Ricci. A sette anni rimase orfano e
fu ammesso nel Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto. Terminati gli studi fu
ospite presso i signori Gargani di Torre Annunziata e si procurò da vivere come
insegnante di violino, strumento che non abbandonò mai. In seguito riuscì ad
ottenere la protezione della Duchessa di Castelpagano, che molto si impegnò per
fargli acquisire fama. A 25 anni iniziò a comporre opere liriche scrivendo il Pigmalione. A 29 anni mise in musica
l’opera Montezuma, rappresentata
presso al Teatro di San Carlo nel 1781. Dopo questa rappresentazione partì per Milano dove iniziò a comporre opere serie
e buffe in gran numero tra cui l’Asinda,
composta in appena sette giorni e rappresentata al Teatro alla Scala nel 1785 e
subito dopo compose Giulietta e Romeo, in
appena quaranta ore distribuite in dieci giorni, considerata il suo capolavoro.
Si trasferì quindi a Parigi, ma, iniziato il periodo rivoluzionario, preferì
ritornare presto a Milano. Nel 1792 divenne Maestro di Cappella del Duomo di
quella città. Da qui passò nel 1794 a ricoprire lo stesso incarico presso la
Santa Casa di Loreto dove rimase per un decennio scrivendo musica sacra. La sua
fama crebbe e giunse fino a Napoleone che, durante la campagna d’Italia, si
spinse fino a Loreto per poter conoscere il maestro di persona. Nel 1804 fu
nominato maestro di Cappella in San Pietro. A Roma si dedicò a metter in musica
le più celebri opere poetiche italiane, come alcune stanze del Tasso e
dell’Ariosto ed alcuni passi della Divina Commedia di Dante. Qui avvenne uno
degli avvenimenti più interessanti della sua vita. La città fu occupata dalle
truppe imperiali francesi e gli fu imposto di eseguire la musica dell’Inno
Ambrosiano per celebrare la nascita del figlio di Napoleone Bonaparte a cui era
stato dato il titolo di Re di Roma. Si preparò tutto in San Pietro e non
mancava che il Maestro per dar via all’esecuzione dell’Inno, ma una volta chiamato,
Zingarelli si rifiutò di dirigere il concerto sacro dicendo che egli non riconosceva
altro sovrano al di fuori del Santo Padre Pio VII, da cui era stato assunto
come maestro della Cappella. Fu quindi arrestato e trasportato a Civitavecchia
per ordine del prefetto e da qui gli fu intimato di partire alla volta di
Parigi per essere giudicato. Con gran
stupore, una volta giunto alla corte parigina, non solo non fu imprigionato, ma
l’Imperatore commissionò a Zingarelli una messa da scrivere per la sua Cappella
Imperiale che tanto piacque da fruttargli seimila franchi d’oro.
Zingarelli
rimase a Parigi per circa un anno, durante il quale Napoleone gli fece
assegnare un mensile di duecento franchi. Nel 1812 lasciò la Francia e si fermò
in diverse città italiane ma nel 1813, dovendosi nominare il direttore del
conservatorio di S.Sebastiano, poi trasferito in S.Pietro a Majella, Gioacchino
Murat in persona chiese a Napoleone che tale incarico fosse dato al celebre
Zingarelli e così il maestro tornò in Patria.
Nel
1835 iniziarono i problemi di salute con un attacco di idropisia. A giugno dello stesso
anno andò a vivere al Gonfalone, ma il male non gli diede tregua e quindi il 20
settembre dello stesso anno fu condotto a Torre del Greco dove migliorò molto e
riprese a comporre. Il primo maggio 1837 fu colto da una malattia allora molto
diffusa, detta Grippa. Il 4 mattina fece richiesta del Viatico e recitò il
Confiteor. Rimase lucido sino all’ultimo istante sorridendo e dicendo di non
sentire alcuna sofferenza. Alle undici antimeridiane del 5 maggio spirò. Il
corpo fu trasferito a Napoli e trasportato in Conservatorio dove fu allestita
la camera ardente. Il corpo fu poi sepolto nella chiesa di S.Domenico Maggiore
a Napoli. L’elogio funebre fu recitato dal suo caro amico, il marchese Basilio
Puoti e gli fu dedicata uno splendido monumento collocato all’ingresso sud
della basilica. La musica per la messa da requiem eseguita per i suoi funerali fu
quella che egli stesso scrisse in vista della sua morte e fu eseguita dai suoi
allievi.
Per
le sue opere fu gratificato in vita con diverse onorificenze. Il re di
Sassonia, in data 26 gennaio 1835, lo premiò con una lettera onorifica di
ringraziamento ed il dono di una scatola d’ora per aver composto una messa.
Francesco I re di Napoli lo insignì della Croce di Cavaliere del suo Ordine. Fu socio Ordinario dell’Accademia Reale di
Belle Arti ed onorario della Pontaniana. Membro ordinario della IV classe dell’
Accademia delle Belle arti di Francia. Corrispondente del Conservatorio Imperiale
di Musica di Parigi. L’accademia di belle arti di Berlino gli spedì un diploma,
che gli giunse quando già era spirato.
A
Torre del Greco scrisse una cantata per grande orchestra datata 1837, il salmo
Laudate Dominum in Sanctis Eius, solfeggi,
Inni Sacri e la celebre messa da requiem. La sua ultima composizione fu
un Tantum Ergo composto il 28 aprile sul quale, forse sentendo la morte vicina,
segnò gli anni di vita. Tutti questi capolavori, molti dei quali inediti e mai
eseguiti, attendono di essere riportati alla luce nella Biblioteca del
Conservatorio di Napoli e qualche mecenate che voglia adottarli, rendendone
possibile l’esecuzione.
I just finished to transcribe the second time of the "Sinfonia funebre fugata" of Nicola Antonio Zingarelli (1752 - 1837). I played it with software Finale 2008, but I hope to conduct soon it with a real orchestra!!!! Is it possible??? =/
I finished the transcription of the first time of Zingarelli's symphony in a flat major. Is a "sinfonia funebre fugata" in two moviments: adagio and allegro. It's a tipical neapolitan symphony in which the pathetic elements are heightened. I published it on youtube, but the sound is not very good because I played it with Finale 2008.
I hope that sooner or later I'll find an orchestra and I'll conduct it!
My story is the story of a musician, (violinist, conductor, musicologist) that in Italy, today, has lost his dreams. This story is like a romance, full of any kind of characters that I decided to tell us, because the life of a musician is like a dream and the dreams are the soul of the world.
Now I'm transcribing a great symphony of Nicola Antonio Zingarelli (1752 - 1837). This work is part of a project of mine on Italian music of eighteenth and ninetheenth centuries. (www.700project.beepworld.it)
But this project is like a mission. The status of culture in Italy is catastrophic. There are no funds for classical music, concerts, theatre, orchestras and many institutions have serious problems of sussistence. The theatre of Genoa, the "Carlo Felice" was closed this winter and also giants like "San Carlo" of Naples or "Scala" of Milan, risk the same fate.
In this situation, base one's life on research in musicology or on classical music, is like a suicide!
I'm convinced that the music that I trancribe everyday is very very important and that is heritage of humanity. But no one support my works and now I must found an other work that give me the opportunity of earn money for living. And this means abandoning my research.
But from dreams sooner or later you have to wake up!.
Nicola Antonio Zingarelli was born in Naples on April 4, 1752 by Riccardo and Teresa Ricci Toda Zingarelli. He had two brothers, also dedicated to music, and a sister. The christeninf of little Nicola was held in the church of S.Arcangelo all'Arena. He was admitted to the Conservatorio of Santa Maria di Loreto. He studied composition under the guidance of Padre Fenaroli and Alessandro Speranza, a pupil of Francesco Durante. His zeal in the study was that often, during the fall, he went on foot to the house of his teacher that wasn't near Neaples. Not only is devoted to musical studies, but he studied also humanea litterae. Later he leaving in Torre Annunziata as a teacher of violin, an instrument that he never abandoned. He obtained the protection of the Duchess of Castelpagano, which is very committed to it to acquire fame. At 29 years old he composed the opera Montezuma, represented at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples in 1781. The work was not very successful, but was very praised in Germany, receving the applause of Haydn. Following the fall of Montezuma, he could leave for Milan, where he began to compose works like Asinda at La Scala theatre in 1785, a work composed in seven days. Soon after wrote Romeo and Juliet, in just forty hours spread over ten days. In 1792 was maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Milan.
In addition to this he began to give lessons in composition and had many students including Francesco Pollini, a talented piano virtuoso.From Milan came to the Holy House of Loreto in 1794.Here he remained for a decade writing sacred music, but he also continued to compose operas for various clients. For the Holy House of Loreto he wrote a monumental work: "L’annuale di Loreto" which is a collection of Masses for everyday.During Napoleon's campaign in Italy, Bonaparte went to Loreto in order to know Zingarelli personally.In 1804 was appointed maestro di cappella at St. Peter's, in Rome as the successor of Pietro Guglielmi.Occupied by the French, Zingarelli was required to perform the Ambrosian hymn to celebrate the birth of the son of Napoleon Bonaparte who had been given the title of King of Rome.Zingarelli said nothing in this order and that his silence was misinterpreted as consent to the order prescribed, prepared, then, all in St. Peter's, called, Zingarellirefused saying that he did not recognize another sovereign outside of Pope Pius VII from which he was hired as master of the papal chapel.He was then arrested and transported to Civitavecchia order of the chief of police of Rome, from there he was ordered to leave for Paris to be judged.Arriving in Paris, Napoleon's chaplain Cardinal Flesh, gave him four thousand francs for the trip.Once the court was not made any arrests, he was tried for the imperial orders violated, indeed, the emperor soon commissioned to Zingarelli write a mass for his Imperial Chapel, which does not exceed the duration of twenty minutes.In a short time the work was composed and so pleased to send to the emperor through his Grand Chamberlain a letter of thanks and a term of six thousand francs.
Zingarelli was then in Paris for about a year, during which Napoleon made him a monthly award of two hundred francs.In 1812 he left France and in 1813 he was appointed as director of the S. Sebastiano Conservatory, then transferred to S. Pietro a Majella. In 1835 he had an attack of dropsy.For this reason he went in Torre del Greco, near Neaples, a place famous for his good air. On May 5 he died.The body was transferred to Naples that same evening by Tito Angelini.The body was transported to the Conservatory where he held the funeral where he received the homage of the students moved and friends.The body was then buried in the church of San Domenico in Naples.In the following month of December, we celebrated a magnificent funeral in Conservatory.The eulogy was played by his friend, the Marquis Basilio Puoti.The mass of requiem was the same that he wrote in view of his sad death and was executed by students of the Conservatory of Music.
For his work was rewarded with several honors in life.The King of Saxony, on 26 January 1835, awarded him an honorary letter of thanks and the gift of a gold box for having composed a mass.Francis I, King of Naples, awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order.It was an ordinary member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts “Pontaniana”.Ordinary member of the class IV 's Academy of Fine Arts in France.Corresponding with his medal, the Imperial Conservatory of Music in Paris.Correspondent of the V class of the historian in Paris.Maestro of the Congregation in Rome.Ordinary member of the Naples Philharmonic Society.He was maestro di cappella of the Cathedral of Naples.The Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin sent him a diploma.
In this last years I wrote several articles on Paganini and especially on the so-colled "Paganini's Secret".
On this matter is investigated from about two undred years. His contemporary wrote about him: "He playing the violin in a very particula manner. For this reason, even the best violinist can understand how he is able to play like that...analyze his technique is impossible!" However, researches done on the testimonies on the time have allowed us to reconstruct his way of play. I studied this matter and especially his way of using the bow.
In 1854 Paganini's doctor, Francesco Bennati, wrote: "With that brain he could be a great composer, but without that subtlety of tact, without the particular disposition of the body, shoulders, arms and hands, he would never became the great Nicolò Paganini".
The thorax of the Genoese was slightly below to the average size, round shape and larger on the left than the right.
Today I went to the Conservatory of Music of Naples "San Pietro a Majella". There is one of the most incredible and important libraries in the world! Here I found many intresting manuscripts. I'm working on several symphonies composed by authors such as: Paisiello, Cimarosa, Tritto, Jommelli and others.
I worked in "Sala Scarlatti", a great room in the library with an antique table in walnut and green leather. The libraries are high to the ceiling and the room smells of old papers. I think that's a magic place.
Now I'm trascribing Nicola Zingarelli's quartett for a concert of my quartett "L'Estro Armonico" and in the same time I'm working on the transcription of a Symphony of Pasquale Anfossi.
I hope that appeals to one of the many orchestras that I have proposed to direct my transcript.
How do you say? The hope is the last to day!
Ciao
Leopoldo Fontanarosa
finally I found the time to write a new blog to tell you about my research and my concerts. In these days I’m engaged in important research on manuscripts of the last great composer of the Neapolitan school of the eighteenth century: Nicola Antonio Zingarelli. I'm transcribing some of his symphonies for orchestra.As you may recall, in May 2010, during the Week of Culture, I gave a lecture entitled: "Nicola Antonio Zingarelli: neapolitan music in the heart of Europe." On that occasion I outlined a bit 'the figure of this great composer, teacher of Vincenzo Bellini and Saverio Mercadante, now almost completely forgotten.
Zingarelli was born in Naples on April 4, 1752 and died in Torre del Greco, near Neaples on May 5, 1837.Despite the miserable social conditions from which he came, Zingarelli was able to make their way in a short time.In 1781 he put on stage at the San Carlo theatre in Naples, his first opera, Montezuma.He was “maestro di cappella” of Milan Cathedral and then come to the Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto, where he spent ten years writing 564 sacred works.Leaving Loreto moved to Rome and became Kapellmeister of Pope Pius VII.
Happened here one of the most incredible episodes of his long life.It was 1811.Napoleon occupied Rome with his army when he was born his son, Napoleon II, who gave him the title King of Rome.Zingarelli, choirmaster, was chosen to write a Te Deum in honor of the newborn infant, but the Neapolitan composer patriotically refused to follow orders, replying that he recognized as King of Rome only the Pope Pius VII, in exile.The composer was arrested and sent to France to be tried by the Emperor.But when arrived, he wasn’t executed, but he was commissioned a Mass for which he obtained a considerable sum of money.
Zingarelli was extremely prolific author.But today his work is not represented, nor any of his music performed in theaters and concert halls.
For years I have been a rehabilitation project of his music.These days I had the opportunity to rediscover in the library of the Conservatory of Music in Naples “San Pietro a Majella ", the autograph of one of his last works, a funeral symphony who composed in Torre del Greco a few months before his death,perhaps with the intention that it was played to his funeral. It is moving to see the handwriting of this old composer, which marks the notes in an increasingly uncertain, as if the life, about to go out, no longer able to write the notes written during his long journey. This score has never been performed, nor for the death of Zingarelli, nor after. I hope, a transcript is over, to find soon an orchestra that wants to play this music under my direction! From Rome's all for now!
