FRANCESCO GIAMMUSSO (b.1970): Concerto for Piano and Strings, Genesi di un tema infantile for Piano, Trumpet, String Quartet, Didgeridoo and Bells, Invenzioni for Piano and Cello, Solo Piano: Improvviso, Sonata.
Catalogue Number: 09O086
Label: Tactus
Reference: TC 970701
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Giammusso has synthesized a convincing, if essentially conservative, neo-romantic idiom from a wide range of earlier models, all firmly tonal. The composer seems to enjoy juxtaposing styles from different centuries with abrupt, sometimes disconcerting transitions. Improvviso makes specific reference to Janacek's Sonata in a free fantasia in a late-romantic language, while the sonata alternates episodes of neo-Baroque counterpoint with Stravinskyan neoclassicism and a suggestion of impressionistic washes of color and Romantic melodic fragments which increasingly combine as the work progresses to approach a new-agey view of classical piano writing - gentle and 'relaxing' but largely free of contrast or tension. The concerto similarly pays homage to a variety of romantic models, while Genesi is a gently meditative piece full of rippling piano gestures and consoling melody, with the didgeridoo and bells adding a kind of World Music flavor. The recent Invenzioni draw heavily on classical and romantic models in a series of Schumannesque character-episodes, expressive and lyrical. Enrico Maria Polimanti (piano), Andrea Noferini (cello), Danila Massimi (didgeridoo, bells) and string orchestra.