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Fiorillo
Violin Concerto · Sinfonie Concertanti Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni · Domenico Mason
Born in Brunswick in 1755, Federigo Fiorillo came from a family of Neapolitan musicians. In 1616 one of his ancestors, Carlo Fiorillo, had published a collection of madrigals in five voices. Federigo’s father Ignazio studied with Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante before making his mark as a composer in Trieste and then working in opera-houses across Italy. By the end of the 1740s, he had joined the ranks of those Italian musicians who were looking to make their fortune in the courts of Europe. Federigo was an excellent violinist and violist (and as such, a member of Salomon’s famous quartet), a mandolin virtuoso and the author of a violin teaching method. Fiorillo wrote over two hundred works in several genres, mostly instrumental: chamber music, keyboard sonatas and concertante works such as are found on this album. The First Violin Concerto is an early work, published as part of his Op.4 collection by the Parisian publisher Sieber around the early 1790s, along with two other violin concertso and six flute quartets. There is a second publication, almost identical, printed as opus 7 by Hummel in Berlin in 1798. The concerto’s instrumentation is Classical in scale: two oboes, two horns and strings, and the themes owe their character to the galant style so popular in late 18th-century Paris. For an early work, the concerto’s invention and its working out is strikingly mature and idiomatic, as the following account hopes to show. After an assertive tutti in F major, the strings play the lyrical second theme in C, before the introduction closes by returning to the home key. The soloist amplifies the first theme with ornamentation and virtuoso techniques such as double-stopping and playing high on the E string. The horns close the first section, whereupon Fiorillo springs a surprise by not returning to the second theme in C, but presenting in the minor, and moulding the shape of the theme accordingly. In this way he expands the available tonal regions (A flat major, a distant key from F major, is touched upon during the recapitulation). A repetition of the theme in C minor is followed more virtuoso figuration in the major, before the first half of the opening tutti is repeated in the home key. 2
During the first movement’s extensive development section, Fiorillo extends the solo writing still further, including a new theme in D minor. In true sonata form, the recapitulation returns to F, allowing space for a large and complex cadenza (by comparison Viotti is more formally adventurous in his 13th Concerto, omitting any space for the soloist to indulge himself). The Larghetto is a simple A-B-A song, opening with a cantabile theme in B flat major which is delicately sustained by the strings without the violas. The first violins dominate this section, where as the soloist takes charge in the quicker B section in F major, before a complete reprise of A. A light and elegant Rondo finale opens with the soloist who presents the main theme of the refrain based on a fluent ascending dactylic figure (long-short-short), which is then taken up by the orchestra and repeated between each section. There is a dramatic dialogue between soloist and horns before a sequence of cadenzas leads to a brilliant coda. Fiorillo encountered the Sinfonia concertante form when he moved in 1784 to Paris, where he worked for three years before sailing over the Channel to settle in London for a time. It was here that he wrote the Sinfonia concertante for two oboes, published by Sieber in Paris in 1790. In all three of the symphonies concertantes presented on this recording, Fiorillo eliminated a full slow movement. The opening theme of this F major work is an arpeggiated gesture shared between the soloists in a game of call and response which lies at the heart of the genre. The second theme is presented in the dominant of C major, before a development which opens with an inversion of the first theme and moves into the relative minor key to explore the second theme. The arpeggiated theme returns in the bass, passed back to the first oboe, then sustained and doubled by the horns. The coda is again extensive. The rondo-finale is operatic in character as befits the scoring in which the soloists move in duet and then alternation as though they were on the stage of a dramma giocoso or opera buffa. The symphonies concertantes which Fiorillo wrote for his own instrument both benefit from his intimate knowledge of the violin as compared with the relatively 3
generic writing for oboe. They were composed for the Concert Spirituel of Paris and published as opus 8 by Sieber. The D major work opens with a French-overturestyle exposition with an unusual, stern unison D which is heard three times. The movement’s main theme is first heard with the entry of the soloists, and the unison D signal returns both at the recapitulation and to close the movement. The final Rondo features an intense D minor episode. The E major symphonie concertante opens with another grand Allegro maestoso, which presents a perky arpeggiated theme. It reappears in B major as a bridge between the exposition and the development. The recapitulation is not in the expected E but the subdominant of A major. The solo parts feature leaping intervals, demisemiquaver figuration and double-octave writing. Fiorillo’s compositional skill is again evident in the richly contrasting episodes of the rondo finale.
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Laura Bortolotto (b.1995) studied with Domenico Mason before graduating from the Conservatory of Trieste in 2010. She also studied with Pavel Vernikov in Fiesole and is presently continuing her studies with Marco Rizzi at the Hochschule fĂźr Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim. She won first prize at the 2011 International Hindemith Competition in Berlin, and at the National Competition of Vittorio Veneto. In 2012 she won third prize at the International Competition in Mirecourt (France) and the Palazzetto Bru Zane Prize for the best interpretation of a French Romantic sonata. Laura Bortolotto has performed with many Italian orchestras, and pianists including Leonora Armellini and Massimo Somenzi . Her duet partner is the pianist Matteo Andri, with whom she attends the chamber music masterclasses Laura Bortolotto, Domenico Mason, Lea Birringer in Duino, held by the Trio di Parma. She has appeared at venues such as the Salzburg Mozarteum and Teatro La Fenice, and her festival appearances include concerts at the Winter International Arts Festival 2014 in Sochi, the Two Worlds Festival in Spoleto and many other Italian festivals.She plays a Giambattista Ceruti violin of 1815 courtesy of the Fondazione Pro Canale of Milan. 5
Luca Vignali studied with Gino Siviero at the Giovanni Battista Martini Conservatory in Bologna, where he graduated in 1982. By that time he had already been appointed lead oboist in the orchestra of the Arena di Verona. In 1981 he was principal oboe with the Orchestra Regionale Toscana and was studying with Lothar Koch in Assisi, who invited him to attend the Herbert von Karajan Akademie in Berlin, where he played with the legendary Berliner Philharmoniker under Karajan, Maazel, Ozawa and Barenboim. In 1984 he became first oboe for the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, a position he holds to this day. In 1986 he won first prize at the music competition in Martigny and in 2000 he was awarded Luca Vignali the Franco Alfano - Sanremo Classica prize. He has played with many fine Italian orchestras and at the major Italian festivals. Chamber music performances have included appearances with Yuri Bashmet, Pavel Vernikov, Antony Pay, Uto Ughi, Shlomo Mintz, Alexander Lonquich, Michele Campanella and Stanislav Bunin. He has also toured across Europe, the USA, South America, Japan and south-east Asia. As a member of Salvatore Accardo’s Italian Chamber Orchestra he has given concerts across the world, including a performance of Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe which was broadcast by Italian Radio and recorded by Fone. As a founding 6
member of the Filharmonia Arturo Toscanini, he played in its opening concert in Strasburg, conducted by Lorin Maazel in June 2002. Luca Vignali’s discography includes recordings for Edelweiss, Musikstrasse, Bongiovanni, EMI, Fonè and Tactus. In 2001 he recorded two Adagios for oboe and strings by Vittorio Fael, and Marco Taralli has dedicated a concertino to him. He has edited many 19th-century transcriptions for orchestra and woodwind ensemble of works by Bellini, Rossini, Verdi and others, and Corticelli’s re-edited compositions for oboe, bassoon and piano. His teaching commitments include posts in Perugia, Portogruaro, ‘I Fiati di Roma’ Academy, the Bologna Philharmonic – Abbado Project, and conservatoires in Modena, Reggio Emilia and Udine. Lea Birringer ‘She knows what she wants to convey. Her performance is more that of a musician than just a violinist.’ DrehPunktKultur, August 2012 Lea Birringer was 14 when she made her solo debut with the Berliner Symphoniker under Pavel Baleff. Since then, she has performed at the Salzburg Festival, the Sommerfestival AlpenKlassik and the Oleg Kagan Musikfest, as well as venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Musikverein Vienna, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Lea Birringer began to play the violin at the age of three. While still at school, she was admitted into the Leopold Mozart Institute for Advanced Students in Salzburg. She studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Igor Ozim, followed by a Masters degree with Pavel Vernikov at the Conservatory in Vienna. From 2012 to 2013 Lea was a teaching assistant of Pavel Vernikov at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, Site de Sion. She is now guest teacher at the Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni in Italy and gives masterclasses at the Associazione Culturale Alirio Diaz. She has won prizes at the international violin competitions 7
Kloster Schöntal, Premio Rodolfo Lipizer, Louis Spohr and Abram Yampolski. Her home town of Saarbrücken has presented her with the Cultural Award for young artists. Chamber partners have included Pavel Vernikov, Gustav Rivinius, Atar Arad, Barbara Bonney, Eszter Haffner, Wen-Sinn Yang and Igor Levit. In 2011, Lea Birringer won first prize at both the Premio Vittorio Gui and Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Città di Pinerolo with her sister Esther, who is her duo partner. Since then they have performed at numerous chamber music festivals and concert series. Their debut CD features violin sonatas by Szymanowski, Hindemith and Respighi. Lea Birringer plays an instrument by Gianbattista Ceruti, Cremona ca. 1800, on loan from the German Musical Instruments Fund.
Stefano Rava graduated in 1987 from his studies with Giuliano Giuliani and Gino Siviero at the Giovanni Battista Martini Conservatory in Bologna before continuing his studies with Hansjörg Schellenberger, oboist of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has since played with many Italian orchestras including I Virtuosi Italiani, with whom he recorded for Chandos and Naxos. As a cor anglais player he appeared with the Orchestra Filarmonica ‘Arturo Toscanini’ from 2002 to 2006 and since then has joined international tours of the Orchestra Sinfonica d’Italia under the late Lorin 8
Stefano Rava
Maazel. In the same capacity he played on EMI recordings of symphonies by Mahler and Rachmaninov with the Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano. He has worked with many other distinguished conductors across the world, including Mstislav Rostropovich, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Charles Dutoit and Jeffrey Tate. Since 1990 Stefano Rava has been professor of oboe at the Giuseppe Verdi Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali in Ravenna. The Accademia D’archi Arrigoni is based in San Vito al Tagliamento (Pordenone), where it coaches talented young string players. Among the academy’s teachers are Igor Volochine, Tymur Melnik (violin) and Davide Zaltron (viola) for individual training and Oscar Pauletto and Domenico Mason for chamber and orchestral music. Accademia D’archi Arrigoni The academy’s didactic ideals are inspired by the Russian violin school, working with other musical groups in the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, and in cooperation with theatre and dance groups. The youth orchestra features many prize-winners, and has given concerts in several Italian festivals as well as more regular appearances at its home base in Friuli Venezia Giulia, as well as education projects in local schools. Recent appearances have included concerts in Rome and Vatican City, and the Festival San Vito Jazz with the Argentinian saxophonist Javier Girotto. The orchestra’s discography includes a disc of music by the young Mendelssohn for Amadeus, and contemporary music by Zoccatelli, Ballarin and Canonici for GDM, commissioned by RAI TV. 9
Domenico Mason graduated at the J. Tomadini Conservatory in Udine. He has attended chamber music courses at S. Cecilia Foundation in Portogruaro, studying with prestigious teachers such as Vernikov, Berinskaja and Volochine, and with Fuks at the Indiana University in Bloomington (USA). He has performed with Belluno Orchestra, Udine Orchestra, Castelfranco Orchestra, with Florence arcs Orchestra, with Venice Orchestra, Lyric theatre Orchestra G. Verdi in Trieste, with FVG Mitteleuropea Orchestra with which he has played many concerts both in Italy and abroad. Mason has also performed with distinguished conductors as well as soloists, such as Penderecki, M. Vengerov, J.Rachlin, Natalia Gutman, Misha Maisky, D. Renzetti, G. Gelmetti, A. Nanut, Uto Ughi, P.Vernikov, S. Krilov and many others. He regularly plays viola in many orchestras and chamber music ensembles. He holds an Honours Degree in Musicology at Trieste University, and is co-author of the book L’assoluto microcosmo – L’op. 91 di J. Brahms, written together with Umberto Berti and published by Casa Editrice Zecchini in Varese. Mason teaches violin and chamber music at S. Cecilia Foundation in Portogruaro and violin, chamber and orchestral music at the Accademia D’archi Arrigoni in San Vito al Tagliamento of which he has been founding partner. Leading the Accademia D’archi Arrigoni, he has recently directed a well received concert at Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, and recorded the cd Giovani di Sicuro Talento dedicated to F. Mendelssohn young operas. Attached to the monthly music magazine Amadeus, Mason recorded a cd with unpublished music by the composer Federigo Fiorillo, directing the Accademia D’archi Arrigoni. He has been the Artistic Secretary of the International Music Chamber Festival in Portogruaro, of Accademia Violinistica Europea in Castel S.Pietro (Bo). Directed by Pavel Vernikov, and in collaboration with him, he has been Artistic Secretary of the International Music Festival in Eilat (Israel). 10
He has attended orchestra direction courses with prestigious teachers such as Donato Renzetti and Giancarlo Guarino. As a conductor he has performed with soloists such as P. Vernikov, R. Jaffè, E. Bronzi, V. Mendelssohn, S. Briatore, N. Gutman. Recently, Mason has been involved in choir and orchestra direction and teaching. Several of his students are national and international competition prize winners, including the Vittorio Veneto Violin Competition, the International Hindemith Competition in Berlin, and the Mirecourt Competition in France. He is frequently asked on to the juries of national and international competitions such as the Spincich competition in Trieste and the Salieri competition in Legnago (VR).
Recording: 13-16 April 2014, Fazioli Concert Hall, Sacile, Italy Artist direction & sound engineer: Raffaele Cacciola, BartokStudio Editing for BartokStudio: Gianluca Laponte Cover image: The Musical Contest, 1754–55 by Jean-Honoré Fragonard p & © 2015 Brilliant Classics
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