Briccialdi Flute Concertos Ginevra Petrucci I Virtuosi Italiani
Giulio Briccialdi 1818-1881 Flute Concertos
Flute Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Major 1 I. Allegro maestoso 5:33 2 II. Andante sostenuto 2:02 3 III. Allegro 4:34
Flute Concerto No. 3 in C Major 7 I. Allegro molto moderato 8:05 8 II. Andante un poco sostenuto 3:42 9 III. Allegro ma non tanto 6:51
Flute Concerto No. 2 in E Minor 4 I. Allegro marziale 5 II. Adagio 6 III. Allegro moderato
Flute Concerto No. 4 in A-Flat Major 10 I. Allegro ma non tanto 5:37 11 II. Valse lento 1:55 12 III. Allegro con fuoco – Allegro giusto 4:17
2:32 3:13 5:23
Ginevra Petrucci flute I Virtuosi Italiani First world recording
Recording: 15-16 February 2008, Palazzo Venturi, Avio (Trento), Italy Sound engineer: Alberto Ambrosini Giulio Briccialdi’s Concertos are published by Ricordi/Hal Leonard Photo Ginevra Petrucci: Roy Cox Photography Cover photo: Luigi Corsini & Co. Firenze (Private archive, G.L.Petrucci) p & © 2018 Brilliant Classics
Giulio Briccialdi, born in Terni (Italy) on 2 March 1818, displayed a great talent for music from childhood and began to study the flute under his father’s guidance. Having lost his father at the age of 12, he continued his studies with local teachers before moving to Rome to perfect his technique as a pupil of Giuseppe Maneschi who taught at the Santa Cecilia Institute. After that, Briccialdi began his professional career with the aim of obtaining contracts with the orchestras that were being assembled at that time to put on opera seasons in the numerous theatres in every city in Italy and Europe. He went on to be in great demand as a “first flute” who, moreover, could be asked to develop the intermezzi between one act and the next and be sure of certain applause on the part of the audience. He collaborated with the theaters in Naples (Teatro San Carlo), Milan (Teatro alla Scala), Bologna (Teatro Comunale), Venice (Teatro La Fenice) and Rome (Teatro Argentina). Through his wanderings from one city to another he rapidly became widely known, to the point of attaining the highly prestigious position of teacher to the Count of Syracuse, brother of Ferdinand of Bourbon, the King of Naples. Having resigned his post at the Neapolitan court in 1839 Briccialdi came to Milan where he carried on his many activities with the advantage of finding himself in an environment of great artistic ferment and in greater proximity to those Central European countries which were without doubt among his goals with a view to obtaining international recognition of his talent. From May 1841 and for the following ten years, Briccialdi worked with increasing success in the capitals and musical centers of Europe: in Vienna (where he met Gaetano Donizetti), Graz, Linz, Pest, Karlsruhe, München, Nice, London he formed ties with important figures in the world of music of the day, such as the cellists Alfredo Piatti and Adrien Servais, the double-bassist Giovanni Bottesini, the pianists Sigismund Thalberg, Theodor von Döhler, Moritz Strakosch and the violinist Antonio Bazzini.
The new technical and expressive necessities imposed by the international ambience and the new discoveries of the flute’s mechanical potential stimulated Briccialdi to dedicate his efforts to the realization of a new flute system based on a scientific approach. The years that followed were very fecund for Briccialdi, both for his compositional output and the enthusiastic acknowledgement of his multifaceted capacities as a virtuoso, pedagogue and organologist. Briccialdi remained in England until 1851, when Briccialdi returned to Italy to restart his activity as a soloist in the most important Italian theaters as well as instrumental and operatic composer. In 1857, filled with Risorgimental ideals, he personally took part in various concerts organized to raise funds to support the “purchase of a million rifles proposed by General Giuseppe Garibaldi”. In 1860 he was officially appointed as Director of the Banda Civica in Fermo and in 1871 he was given the post of flute teacher at the Florence Institute of Music where he formed excellent flutists throughout the years. In 1879 his health started deteriorating and on 17 December 1881, at the age of sixtythree, one of the major flutists of Nineteenth century passed away. Briccialdi was an artist who embodied the emblematic expressions of musical romanticism, from the cult of the personality to the flexibility to undertake different activities, working at the same time as virtuoso, pedagogue, composer, organologist – all elements that his coeval virtuosos shared, being protagonists of a musical society that was showing its last sparks. The legend of “the prince of the flutists” was destined to carry on through the deepest essence of his example: art combined with craftsmanship, belcanto combined with virtuosity.
The four Concertos represent some of Briccialdi’s most valuable and original works: conceived as a pinnacle of virtuosic exploitation and based entirely on original materlal, Briccialdi mostly kept those works for his personal use and the scores were only finally released for publishing in 2018 for Ricordi. The present CD is the remastered first world recording of the four Concertos, appearing as part of the activities, editions and celebrations organized in occasion of Briccialdi’s 200th anniversary. The entire unpublished catalogue of Briccialdi’s music is available for download at the Giulio Briccialdi website. © Ginevra Petrucci
GINEVRA PETRUCCI Praised by the Italian press as being “one of the most interesting talents of her generation”, and described as having “a beautiful phrasing, brilliant virtuosity and a legato worthy of a great singer” by The Flutist Quarterly, Ginevra Petrucci has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls throughout Europe, United States, South America, Middle and Far East. She performs regularly with artists such as Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Boris Berman, Emmanuel Ceysson, Jory Vinikour and with the ensembles I Virtuosi Italiani, I Pomeriggi Musicali, I Musici di Roma, the Kodály Quartet. Her recordings include Friedrich Kuhlau’s quintets with the Kodály Quartet, a recital CD with Bruno Canino, Dupuy and Büchner’s Concertos with I Pomeriggi Musicali, the first CD entirely dedicated to the flauto d’amore and an all-Muczynski album. She is visiting professor at institutions and academies in Europe, United States, China and Japan and she has worked with composers Kaija Saariaho, Steve Reich, George Crumb, Betsy Jolas and Jean-Michel Damase, as well as with Nuova Consonanza Contemporary Music Festival and La Biennale di Venezia. She has published a large amount of musical editions, including Briccialdi’s four Concertos for Ricordi/Hal Leonard in 2018. Born in Rome in 1989, she studied at Conservatorio ‘Santa Cecilia’ of Rome with her father, to continue her education at Ecole Normale ‘Alfred Cortot’ (Paris) with Pierre-Yves Artaud and at Yale University (USA) with Ransom Wilson. She is Principal Flute at Chamber Orchestra of New York.
I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI I Virtuosi Italiani orchestra is considered to be one of the most lively and qualified ensembles in the international musical scene. Founded in 1989, the orchestra is renown for its artistic excellence and its innovative musical projects. They regularly perform in the most important theatres and musical venues both in Italy and internationally. I Virtuosi Italiani currently collaborate with worldwide famous soloists and conductors; they have developed a rich repertoire of musical records (more than 100 CDs for well-known recording houses and over 400.000 records sold all around the world). In 2004 I Virtuosi Italiani, together with its leader Alberto Martini, were awarded the prestigious “Choc de la Musique” prize, the “Five stars – Goldberg prize”, the “Diapason d’or”, and received 5 stars from the Italian musical review “Musica”,for the original intepretation of F.A. Bomporti’s complete works. Focused on philological research, I Virtuosi Italiani often perform baroque repertoire, at times with original baroque instruments.The ensemble is also devoted to the greatest possible musical versatility and to the entertainment of vast audiences, with special attention to youth; for this reason, it is distinguished for its research in experimental repertoire, collaborating with artists as C. Corea, G., Bregovic, M. Nyman, L. Einaudi, U. Caine, P. Fresu, R. Galliano and others. I Virtuosi Italiani are both founders and principal performers of a musical season in Verona, where the orchestra is based, and of a season of sacred music in the church of San Fermo Maggiore in Verona. Since 2011, I Virtuosi Italiani have been ensemble-in-residence of the musical season held in the in the church of Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.