SKU: HL.50603593

ISBN 9788881920709. UPC: 840126945102. 8.0x10.5x1.3 inches. Italian-English.

Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia was premiered at Milan's Teatro alla Scala on 26 December 1833 and is considered one of the composer's most important and innovative operas of the 1830s. Although, because of censorship issues, particularly in the south of Italy, it was initially slow to become popular, by the late 1830s it had become one of the composer's most popular operas, both in Italy and abroad, and remained an essential part of the composer's oeuvre until at least the end of the nineteenth century. Remarkable for its daring subject matter (with an unconventional, forceful heroine), it is also renowned for its challenging mixture of the comic and the tragic, something very unusual at the time and clearly an important influence on Giuseppe Verdi's middle period masterpieces. The present reduction for voice and piano derives from the critical edition of the score, recently published in this catalog: is based on Donizetti's autograph manuscript (housed in the Ricordi Archives in Milan), on the libretto for the premiere, on several printed editions of voice and piano, and on numerous additional scores of the period. It presents for the first time all the numerous additions that the composer made to the score over the course of ten years: a fascinating record of his changing music dramatic attitudes during this period. There is also a synthetic historical reconstruction of the genesis of the opera and of the description of the Sources as well as a selection of most interest to singers of Critical Commentary Notes.

Rappresentata per la prima volta al Teatro alla Scala il 26 dicembre 1833, Lucrezia Borgia e considerata una fra le piu importanti e innovative opere di Donizetti. Sebbene le resistenze della censura, soprattutto nel sud Italia, ne causarono inizialmente una lenta diffusione, dalla fine degli anni '30 dell'Ottocento essa divenne uno dei lavori piu popolari e significativi del compositore e tale rimase fino alla fine del XIX secolo. Notevole per il suo audace soggetto (con un'eroina non convenzionale e dalla forte personalita) essa e rinomata anche per l'impegnativa commistione di comico e tragico, un tratto piuttosto inusuale per l'epoca, che ebbe una chiara influenza sui capolavori verdiani di meta secolo. La presente riduzione per canto e pianoforte e condotta sull'edizione critica della partitura, da poco pubblicata in questo stesso catalogo: si basa sul manoscritto autografo di Donizetti (conservato presso l'Archivio Storico Ricordi di Milano), sul libretto della prima rappresentazione, su alcune riduzioni a stampa per canto e pianoforte e su varie altre fonti dell'epoca. L'edizione presenta per la prima volta tutte le aggiunte che il compositore apporto alla partitura nel corso di dieci anni, costituendo un'affascinante testimonianza dei mutevoli approcci di Donizetti alla materia drammatico musicale durante questa fase della sua carriera. Il volume comprende una sintesi della ricostruzione della genesi storica dell'opera e della descrizione delle fonti e una selezione di Note del Commento Critico fra quelle piu funzionali alle esigenze di cantanti e pianisti accompagnatori.

SKU: BO.B.3473

ISBN 9788480208147.

English comments: The Requiem in memory of Salvador Espriu by Xavier Benguerel was commissioned by the Torroella de Montgri International Music Festival for a double commemoration: on the one hand, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Festival, and on the other, in remembrance of Catalan poet Salvador Espriu in the fifth year after his death. This concert, which was held on 5 October, was a brilliant closing gala performance and it was repeated twice on 6 and 7 October at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. It was performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Gran Teatro del Liceo, with soloists Enriqueta Tarres, soprano; Nelibel Martinez, mezzo soprano; Eduard Gimenez, tenor; and Carlos Chausson, baritone, with the additional collaboration of baritone Lluis Llach, conducted by Romano Gandolfi.

In my opinion, this work by Benguerel is a piece that was written with passion and sincerity, with great strength and depth, and it contains some very beautiful passages. It is written in a language through which, without abandoning his current musical thoughts, Benguerel manages to communicate with the audience in a dense work that lasts for an hour and a half. It is interspersed with seven poems by Espriu on the subject of death, some sung and others recited, which gives the Requiem great contrasts from a musical and linguistic point of view -in comparison with the Latin texts normally used in a requiem mass-, but within a successful and coherent unity. The performers certainly proved their worth, but much of the hard work that went into preparing the piece can be attributed not only to the performers, the composer and the poet in tribute to whom the work was written, but also to the conductor Romano Gandolfi, who is largely responsible for the success of the three performances of this Requiem. Benguerel himself says of the work: This Requiem is linked to my previous work, the Llibre Vermell, and it has been written without making any concessions, but with a true wish to communicate with the audience. I've got past the stage of musical experiments and I'm now working on bridging the gap between composer and audience, which I'm sure will be good for both.
--Comments written by Jordi Codina in the December 1990 issue of Nexus magazine

Comentarios del Espanol: El Requiem a la memoria de Salvador Espriu de Xavier Benguerel ha sido compuesto por encargo del Festival Internacional de Musica de Torroella de Montgri para una doble conmemoracion: por una parte, el decimo aniversario del Festival; por otra, el recuerdo de la figura del poeta catalan Salvador Espriu en el quinto ano de su fallecimiento. Este concierto, celebrado el dia 5 de octubre, constituyo una sesion de gala y de clausura brillante y tuvo una doble repeticion los dias 6 y 7en el Palau de la Musica Catalana de Barcelona. Fueron sus interpretes la Orquesta y el Coro del Gran Teatro del Liceo, con los solistas vocales Enriqueta Tarres, soprano; Nelibel Martinez, mezzo; Eduard Gimenez, tenor; y Carlos Chausson, baritono, con la colaboracion del tambien baritono Lluis Llach. Todos bajo la direccion de Romano Gandolfi.

A mi entender, la obra de Benguerel es una partitura escrita con pasion y sinceridad, posee una gran solidez, es profunda y contiene pasajes de una gran belleza. Esta escrita en un lenguaje con el que Benguerel, sin renunciar a su actual pensamiento musical, alcanza la comunicacion con el publico en una obra densa que dura una hora y media. La intercalacion de siete poemas de Espriu relacionados con el tema de la muerte, en una interpretacion cantada o recitada, segun los casos, otorga al Requiem grandes contrastes desde un punto de vista musical y lingŸistico Ð en contraposicion con los textos latinos propios de una misa de requiem Ð, pero dentro de una unidad conseguida y coherente. La labor de los interpretes demostro su categoria y el trabajo exhaustivo en la preparacion de la obra, que, ademas de los interpretes, el compositor y el poeta homenajeado, tuvo otro gran protagonista en la persona del director Romano Gandolfi, a quien se debe una gran parte del exito obtenido en las tres audiciones de este Requiem. El propio Benguerel ha dicho de la obra: Este Requiem entronca con mi obra anterior, el Llibre Vermell, y ha sido escrito sin concesiones, pero con una voluntad real de comunicacion con el publico. La epoca de los experimentos musicales ya se me paso y he entrado en una nueva etapa de acercamiento entre el compositor y el publico que, estoy convencido, beneficiara a ambos.
--Comentario escrito por Jordi Codina en la revista Nexus en diciembre de 1990