Luca Fanfoni & Maria Semeraro - Bazzini: La Ronde des Lutins (2015)

Tracklist

01. Scherzo fantastique, Op. 25
02. Violin Sonata, Op. 55: I. Allegro deciso
03. Violin Sonata, Op. 55: II. Andante con moto
04. Violin Sonata, Op. 55: III. Finale
05. La traviata "fantasia brillante", Op. 50
06. 6 Morceaux lyriques, Op. 35: I. Elegia
07. 6 Morceaux caractéristiques, Op. 34: III. La calma serenata
08. 6 Morceaux lyriques, Op. 35: III. Le muletier
09. Le carrillon d' Arras, Op. 36

Poor Antonio Joseph Bazzini (1818-1897), a one-work composer if ever there was one, after the examples of Bruch and Holst, destined forever to be remembered as encore fodder for virtuoso violinists as they end their recitals in a blaze of glory with his Scherzo fantastique Op.25, better known as La Ronde des lutins, or Dance of the Goblins.

Now, Luca Fanfoni and Maria Semeraro expand our knowledge of Bazzini with a more complete survey of music for his own instrument, for he had a place, post-Paganini, in the 19th-century tradition of performer-composers. Inevitably Italian Opera exercised an influence upon him, evidenced by many fantasias based on operatic themes, often from Verdi, such as the one inspired by La Traviata in which the virtuosity effectively brings out Verdi’s dramatic intent.

Then his mastery of longer and more abstract forms is revealed by his Op.55 Sonata, a poetic masterpiece with a formal, well-defined structure. Later in life Bazzini aside his performing career in favour of composition, including symphonic, choral and chamber music (six quartets and a quintet) and teaching: Puccini and Catalani were among his students.

Luca Fanfoni’s extensive discography includes a Verdi-themed disc of fantasias and variation sets, as well as the ten concertos and sonatas of Antonio Lolli, another figure in the neglected byways of Italian music, this time from the Baroque era.

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]