Wolf-Ferrari: Talitha Kumi, La passione & 8 Cori

Albumbeschreibung

Poor Wolf-Ferrari! Considered far too Germanic for the Italian sphere, and a little too transalpine for partisans of the German style - having a German father and an Italian mother will do that - he nevertheless managed to make a big name for himself on the lyrical stages of both his parents' countries, (with whom he split his time between Munich and Venice) with his first five operas including two in the style of Goldoni, Le donne curiose and I quatro rusteghi, another after Molière – Der Liebhaber als Arzt, all five first performed… in German, even if their follow-up performances in Italy or even at the New York MET would be in Italian. The years 1903 to 1913 were a golden decade for Wolf-Ferrari. Then there came the First World War, a nightmare for the composer, whose love was torn between the two countries - Germany and Italy who weren't on the same side – with the result that he fled to Switzerland, where he sank into depression. His much darker operas from the interwar period were performed in Italy, and another in Germany in 1943, but Wolf-Ferrari's days were numbered: his music, too counter-punctual, insufficiently modernist, was eclipsed by a whole new generation. This album offers some vocal rarities, so rare, in fact, that this is a first release worldwide. His oratorio (is it an oratorio?) Thalita Kumi from 1898, a work from his early maturity, written when he was 22, is inspired by a miracle related in the Gospel of Mark, the resurrection of Jaire's daughter - in Aramaic, "Ta'ali, takumi" means "get up". Written for tenor and orchestra, it is a stunning little gem of a half-hour whose counter-punctual and harmonic writing displays Wolf-Ferrari's interest in the Renaissance and early Italian baroque. La Passione, for choir, from 1939 (and not 1906 as erroneously stated in the album's linear notes), takes an ancient popular Italian poem with very original and sombre writing - after all, the year didn't lend itself to celebration. Finally, 1898's Eight Choirs documents the heritage of the Italian polyphonists, in a conception that alternates between depth and humour. This album truly offers some superb discoveries. © SM/Qobuz