I virtuosi del teatro alla scala

Program

G. Rossini/A. Pecolo
La scala di seta, Symphony

S. Squarzina
Gran Duo su motivi di Traviata e Rigoletto
for oboe, clarinet and strings

S. Mercadante
Decimino

N. Rota/P. Zannini
Ballabili dal Gattopardo

Violins
Andrea Pecolo
Stefano Lo Re

Viola
Duccio Beluffi

Cello
Gianluca Muzzolon

Contrabass
Omar Lonati

Flute
Marco Zoni

Oboe
Fabien Thouand

Clarinet
Fabrizio Meloni

Bassoon
Marion Reinhard

Horn
Stefano Curci

Program notes
I Virtuosi del Teatro alla Scala presents an all-Italian program that is based on the unusual formation of the ten-part ensemble: a double quintet of strings and winds. The symphony from Rossini’s La Scala di Seta is an arrangement for the ensemble of the famous symphony from Rossini’s farsa comica, known over the years only for this opening scene.
A great way of disseminating opera in times when there was no recorded music were the fantasies and potpourri on famous arias from one or more operas. Smaller ensembles made it possible to bring opera to places that did not have a theatre and orchestra to perform complete and traditional operas, thus reaching small towns and villages in the most remote areas. Squarzina rearranges for and combines the two 19th-century fantasies by Lovreglio originally for clarinet on themes from Rigoletto and Traviata.
The only original piece for double quintet of strings and winds is Mercadante’s first Decimino. Although this is purely instrumental music, the listener cannot miss the close connection with opera. Mercadante composed over sixty operatic titles and his chamber music production is visibly influenced by them.
Next we come to the 20th century with the famous dances written by Nino Rota for the soundtrack of Luchino Visconti’s film Il Gattopardo in 1961. The famous director had come into possession of an unpublished waltz written by Giuseppe Verdi, which was orchestrated by Rota and provided the starting point for the other six original dances. The result is a highly enjoyable suite with a 19th-century salon atmosphere.
Luca Di Giulio