Wolf-Ferrari: The Two Piano Trios

Album review

There are some composers who just defy classification; often, they are equidistant from two great revolutions, not belonging to either. These people are often encumbered with a label preceded by "neo-", permitting them to be pigeonholed somewhere, boxed-off, and forgotten. That was the sad case with Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, who, what's more, had the temerity to not belong to a single country, as his allegiances were divided between Italy (Venice, specifically) and Germany, or rather Bavaria, which isn't the same thing. His career unfolded in either country, with a little time spent in Switzerland to escape the trials of war. The majority of his output was lyrical, but at the start of his career, and again towards the end of his life, he took to writing some chamber music. The two Trios date from 1896, the era of his studies and his first sallies in Munich with Rheinberger, from whom there runs a straight line to Mendelssohn. That said, he is no neo-Mendelssohn, and while Brahms is never far away, the melodic language remains firmly that of bel canto. The Second Trio, more particularly, is not short on stunning harmonic flights, and a level of invention redolent of his contemporary Debussy: but also other traits which can be clearly seen in the young Strauss, and in particular his great symphonic poems. the Trio Archè, founded in Turin in 2001, takes charge. The name refers to the Ancient Greek αρχη, meaning origin, or founding principle. One of its main aims is to bring back to life original, foundational works from the Italian repertoire, such as Bossi, Busoni, Casella, Martucci and of course Wolf-Ferrari. © SM/Qobuz