VA - Selmi, Coppola, Pirani: The voice of cello from Nazi prisons (2024) [Hi-Res]

During the traumatic years of Nazi concentration camps, music became a source of solace and resistance for many prisoners. Among them were notable Italian musicians: cellists Giuseppe Selmi (Modena, 1912 – Rome, 1987) and Osvaldo Pirani (Ancona, 1910-2010), and composer Arturo Coppola (Sorrento, 1913 – Treviso, 1998). These men, captured between 1943 and 1945, channeled their harrowing experiences into profound musical compositions.

Giuseppe Selmi wrote two significant works during his imprisonment: the Concerto Spirituale for cello and small orchestra, which won the Viotti Composition Award in 1955, and Soliloquy – Prayer for solo cello. Arturo Coppola, inspired by his friendship with Selmi in the camps, composed the Elegy for cello and piano.

The CD begins with a reissue of Selmi’s historic recording of his Concerto Spirituale, originally pressed on a 33 rpm LP. Composed in the Tarnopol camp in Ukraine in October 1943, Selmi, in a fevered state one morning, felt as if he had performed a concert in his dreams. He hurriedly scribbled the themes on scraps of paper, completing the work by Christmas of the same year. This concerto, which gained international acclaim after the Viotti Award in 1955, opens our collection.

Following is the Soliloquy – Prayer for solo cello, penned in July 1945 in the barrack chapel of the Münster Lager (Germany). This poignant piece, a lament of resignation, became the first of ten solo cello works Selmi would write over the years. From this collection, the CD includes the Preludio Meditativo (Rome, 1966), the Christmas piece La zampogna di Natale (Rome, 1968), and the Soliloquio rapsodico (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 1970). The latter pieces reveal Selmi’s transition to a unique form of Impressionism, likely inspired by the surrounding Dolomites.

In Selmi’s broader works for cello and piano, we find a distinctive piece depicting a morning in a Franciscan convent. The piano mimics bell sounds at the start, with a friar’s prayer echoing towards the end. To grasp the full range of Selmi’s musical expression, listeners should explore the brief piano piece Sigla ostinata, the moving Preghiera for cello and harp, and two concise pieces for solo harp.

Arturo Coppola’s Elegy for cello and piano, his only work for the instrument, was born from his camaraderie with Selmi in the camps. The piece begins with a nod to Gershwin’s Summertime, featuring a broad cello melody that transitions into a contrasting, cinematic section, merging into a singing cadenza.

The CD also debuts Osvaldo Pirani’s complete works, shedding light on a talented yet overlooked musician. His unpublished Andante espressivo e Allegro molto for solo cello stands out. His three short pieces for cello and piano, part of a beginner’s collection, exhibit striking originality, particularly the Danza rituale. His Tre momenti for solo cello vividly depict a comical drunk man struggling before slipping into a puddle.

Pirani’s compositions conclude with a whimsical and technically demanding piece for medium voice and cello about a pearl-thieving crab. Reverie [Dream], a piece for flute and vibraphone, showcases a magnificent interplay of instruments, creating effects of rare beauty and suspense. His works for clarinet and bassoon, requiring high technical skill, still retain a playful character.