FRANCO ALFANO (1875-1954)

 

Cello Sonata, Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano

 

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano (1932)

I. Con dolce malinconia

II. Allegretto fantastico

III. Presto

 

Sonata for Cello and Piano (1925)

I. Assai lento

II. Allegretto con grazia

III. Presto, appassionato

 

Samuel Magill - cello

Scott Dunn - piano

Elmira Darvarova - violin

 

Franco Alfano’s completion of Puccini’s opera Turandot has eclipsed his own reputation, although the profound ability of this talented composer is finally emerging into the light. The works on this disc display contrasting aspects of his musical personality. The large-scale Cello Sonata, with its echoes of Debussy and Ravel, grows from serene beginnings to turbulent intensity before subsiding into elegiac resignation. The more neoclassical Concerto, actually a piano trio, weaves hints of Renaissance polyphony with Basque and eastern European folk music into a shimmering fabric of virtuosity and lyricism.

 

Naxos 8570928