Malipiero

The Italian composer Riccardo Malipiero (1914–2003), nephew of the better-known Gian Francesco Malipiero, was one of the pioneers of twelve-tone technique in Italy. His six published piano works – recorded here for the first time – encapsulate half-a-century of development, from the post-Respighian 14 variazioni of 1938, via the Bachian Invenzioni and the virtuosic Costellazioni, to the classicism of the Diario second of 1985. But Malipiero’s concern was more with individuality of expression than with modernist dogma, and he was happy to break the rules in pursuit of colour and variety.

The author of a vast number of compositions, including about forty operas and ballets, eleven symphonies and eleven concertos, numerous pieces for the piano, chamber and vocal works, as well as critical studies, literary writings and memoirs, Gian Francesco Malipiero lived and worked in a difficult and extraordinary balance between the new and the old. He was unquestionably the most important and complete musician of the Generazione dell’Ottanta, a ……

These are good performances of music by a wildly inconsistent composer. Stylistically, Malipiero (1882-1973) was all over the place. Gabrieliana, obviously, is an arrangement of music by Gabrieli; the Madrigali are arrangements of vocal works by Monteverdi (from Book VII of his madrigals). The Serenata manages to be cute and quirky without a single memorable melodic idea, while both the 5 Favole (fables) and the Venetian songs belong to the composer’s late, almost atonal style. The latter work even begins with a 12-note row, ……..

David Hurwitz @ classicstoday.com

Both Gian Francesco Malipiero and Alfredo Casella who struggled to modernize the classical music scene in Italy, no easy task considering the widespread dominance of Italian opera and the Italian Baroque. In some fashion, both of these composers were successful, though not to the degree of Respighi, in creating a lasting name for themselves by incorporating some of the very stylistic components they sought to modernize – namely, lyricism and …..

Mike D. Brownell @ AllMusic.com

L'Orfeide is an opera composed by Gian Francesco Malipiero who also wrote the Italian libretto, partly based on the myth of Orpheus and incorporating texts by Italian Renaissance poets. The work consists of three parts – La morte delle maschere (The death of the masks), Sette canzoni (Seven songs), and Orfeo, ovvero L'ottava canzone (Orpheus, or The eighth song). It received its first complete performance on 5 November 1925 at the Stadttheater in Düsseldorf.

Source: Wikipedia