Dennis Russell Davies & Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana - Maderna & Berio: Now, and Then (2017)

Unlike many of his radical new music colleagues, Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) had a great affection for older music, especially that of the Italian Renaissance and Early Baroque eras. But his transcriptions had little to do with the orthodoxy of so-called ‘historically informed’ interpretation. In the belief that works of art can be removed from their original contexts, he used contemporary instrumental resources to discover new meaning and a new validity in the works of old masters.

His transcriptions of Gabrieli, Frescobaldi, Legrenzi, Viadana and Wassenaer are vividly conveyed by the RSI Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies in a programme which includes Chemins V by Maderna’s good friend Luciano Berio (1925-2003). Chemins V is itself a transcription of sorts, a chamber orchestra version of Berio’s Sequenza XI. Soloist Pablo Marquez references flamenco and the guitar’s classical heritage, while the orchestra engages with the guitar on levels of expanded harmony. Dialogue develops, as Berio said, “through multiple forms of interaction, from the most unanimous to the most conflictual and estranged.”

Tracklist

01. Tre Pezzi-1. Recercar super LA-FA-SOL-LA-RE (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
02. Tre Pezzi-2a. Christe (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
03. Tre Pezzi-2b. Kyrie (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
04. Tre Pezzi-3. Bergamasca (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
05. La Basadonna (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
06. Chemins V
07. Canzone a tre cori (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
08. La Napolitana (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
09. La Venexiana (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
10. La Veronese (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
11. La Romana (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
12. La Mantovana (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
13. Palestrina-Konzert-1. Grave assai sostenuto (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
14. Palestrina-Konzert-2. Andante (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)
15. Palestrina-Konzert-3. Vivace (Transcription By Bruno Maderna)

FEATURED ARTISTS
Dennis Russell Davies
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana
Pablo Márquez Guitar