top-divers2

News

28 Jan
Carl Fischer's new editions of Castelnuovo-Tedesco transcriptions

Mario’s Transcriptions: New Editions

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

In the 1940s, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco wrote a number of  transcriptions of iconic melodies. Although some were purely commercial commissions, others he did just for fun, to offer to his famous friends to perform in concerts.  Some of these “experiments,” as Mario called them, have recently been reissued by Carl Fischer in two new editions, one of violin and piano arrangements and the other of cello and piano arrangements. Both volumes are anchored by the most famous of these arrangements, Figaro from The Barber of Seville by Rossini, originally published in 1945.  Originally conceived for cello and piano for his friend Gregor Piatigorsky, the work was at first rejected by the famous cellist, who was unsure how the public would receive a caricature of such a famous work. Jascha Heifetz was game, so Mario created an arrangement for violin and piano as well, which Heifetz performed for delighted audiences. 
Read more

22 Jan
Jason Vieaux CD Dance

Chamber Music with Guitar: Jason Vieaux Interview

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Grammy Award winner Jason Vieaux has been described by NPR as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” An avid chamber musician, he maintains an active teaching schedule at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Curtis Institute and online with ArtistWorks. Given his dedication to guitar chamber music, it’s no surprise that he has deep experience with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Quintet for Guitar and Strings, op. 143. In fact, he  recorded the piece in collaboration with the Escher Quartet on their 2019 CD Dance (Azica).  Jason kindly shared his thoughts about this work. 
Read more

05 Jan
Tedesco-Quintett

Chamber Music with Guitar: Leonard Becker Interview

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco enjoyed encouraging young musicians.  So it’s always a delight to meet young artists who discover Mario’s music and become passionate about performing it. Guitarist Leonard Becker (pictured above at center), who has been studying with Professor Franz Halasz in Munich since 2017, exemplifies this spirit.  Alongside Louis Vandory (violin), Valerie Steenken (violin), Elisabeth Buchner (viola) and Márton Braun (cello), he founded the Tedesco-Quintett, which won First Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition ‘Gerhard Vogt’ in 2019. For their first CD, released by Naxos in 2021, Leonard and his collaborators focused on Mario’s chamber music with guitar.  In this endeavor they were joined by Chloé Dufossez (flute),  Eloi Huscenot (English horn), and  Clara Isabella Siegle (piano).  Naturally we were curious to learn more about Leonard’s experience recording this music. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his project and what this music means to him.
Read more

30 Dec
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Chamber Music

Chamber Music with Guitar: Duilio Meucci Interview

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s 125th birthday came and went in April 2020, during the first, terrifying COVID lockdown. Events and concerts were all cancelled; everyone was on edge. However, in spite of all the obstacles, Duilio Meucci, with his prodigious talents as a guitarist and as a video director, managed to find an ingenious way to pay homage to the composer. Duilio and his collaborators created a socially distanced recording of a few bars from the unforgettable second movement of Mario’s Quintet for Guitar and Strings, Op.143. The result was as inspired as it was moving: in less than two minutes, these musicians truly captured the spirit of the moment.  When Duilio informed us that he and his collaborators (the Quartetto Felix, the violinist Antonella D’Andrea, the flautist Marco Salvio, and guitarist Pietro Locatto) intended to record an entire CD of Mario’s chamber music with guitar, naturally we couldn’t wait to hear what they would come up with.  The CD, titled Notes: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Chamber Music , was released in 2021 by the label Stradivarius.
Read more

27 Dec
Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Chamber Music Bandini Interview

Chamber Music with Guitar: Giampaolo Bandini Interview

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Guitarist Giampaolo Bandini has performed, championed and taught Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music for many years. In 2017, at the l’Istituto Musicale “Luigi Boccherini” in Lucca, Italy he organized the most extensive festival ever dedicated to the Florentine composer’s guitar music. After releasing more than 10 CDs, Giampaolo chose to dedicate time during the pandemic to an exploration of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s complete chamber music with guitar. He put together an outstanding  group of musicians to collaborate with him on the project: the Quartetto Adorno (Edoardo Zosi violin, Liù Pelliciari, violin, Benedetta Bucci, viola, and Danilo Squitieri, cello); Stefano Cerrato, cello; Francesco Di Rosa, oboe; Alberto Miodini, piano; Augusto Mianti, English horn; and Andrea Oliva, flute. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Chamber Works: The Complete Edition (Decca)  was released in Fall 2021. The recording includes extensive liner notes by Professor Stefano Campagnolo.  Giampaolo graciously agreed to talk with us about his long standing interest and recent immersion in Mario’s chamber music. 
Read more

18 Dec
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Chamber Music Sharon Isbin

Chamber Music with Guitar: Sharon Isbin Interview

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

We are thrilled to begin our series of conversations about Mario’s Guitar chamber music with Sharon Isbin, multiple Grammy Award winner, Musical America’s 2020 Artist of the Year, and the director of the guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and the Juilliard School. Sharon recently recorded the Quintet for Guitar and Strings Op. 143 with the Pacifica Quartet (Simin Ganatra, violin; Austin Hartman, violin; Mark Holloway, viola; Brandon Vamos, cello) on their CD, Souvenirs of Spain & Italy (Cedille). 
Read more

17 Dec
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Chamber Music with Guitar

Chamber Music with Guitar (1950-1968)

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

After nearly two decades of writing for the guitar, in 1950 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco wrote his first works of guitar chamber music. What began as experiments of a curious mind evolved into a group of works that are beloved today by both musicians and audiences.  The Quintet for Guitar and Strings op 143 (1950) is without a doubt the most high-profile of these works, since it was requested, premiered* and first recorded** by his friend Andrés Segovia.
Read more

28 Jul
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Ophelia

Ofelia returns to “her” Florence

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Two of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s lifelong passions were Shakespeare and the visual arts. So it’s no wonder that he was drawn to Ofelia (Ophelia), a terracotta sculpture by Arturo Martini when he saw it at an exhibition in Florence in 1932. Castelnuovo-Tedesco acquired the sensual and tragic representation of the young Danish noblewoman of Hamlet for his personal collection. This work has now returned to Florence for the exhibition Arturo Martini and Florence at the Museo Novecento through November 14, 2021.
Read more

03 Jul
Castelnuovo-Tedesco Chamber Music

Mario’s Return to Chamber Music (1945-1950)

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

In the mid-1940s, with the trauma of emigration starting to fade, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco returned to writing chamber music. During the period from 1945-1950, he wrote the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (Ricordi), the String Trio (Curci) and his Second String Quartet (Curci).  This second wave of chamber music also includes a series of three sonatas for string instruments, in which he enjoyed experimenting with the technical and expressive possibilities of different combinations.
Read more

14 Jun
Premiere of Castelnuovo-Tedesco Cello Concerto in Poland

Premiere of the Cello Concerto in Poland

Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco / News /

Since 2018, the Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa has been reintroducing Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto for cello and orchestra, opus 72, to European audiences. On Friday 18 June 2021 she will premiere the work in Poland, in Jelenia Góra, with the Lower Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Massimiliano Caldi. This performance had been planned for March 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more