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Track Listings
| 1. Overture to 'Cubalai, gran kan de' Tartari' |
| 2. Twenty-six Variations on 'La follia di Spagna' |
| 3. Overture to 'Angiolina, ossia Il matrimonio per sussuro' |
| 4. Sinfonia Veneziana |
| 5. Overture to 'La locandiera' |
| 6. Sinfonia 'Il giorno onomastico' |
| 7. Overture to 'Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle' |
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent pieces from a very misunderstood composer,
By Wolfgang Augustine Linley (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Salieri: Sinfonias (Audio CD)
Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) must be the only composer who is well known due to his supposed mediocrity. However, the popular view of Salieri is the result of his mad ravings shortly before his death, and a myth created by Pushkin in the 1820s. It was in the interests of the nationalist politics of the time to portray Mozart as an unsurpassable native genius, and Salieri as the crude, hackneyed Italian outsider. This highly questionable view has been popularised in recent years by Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus, and the film based on it. It is important to put these irrational prejudices aside, when we consider Salieri's music. We must forget that Salieri had a considerable influence over the next generation of composers - probably greater than that of Mozart - as he taught Beethoven, Czerny, Hummel, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Moscheles and Schubert, to name but a few.
This CD is representative of his orchestral works. The overtures possess nobility and grace, and can be stirring at times. They often include some delightful passages for the wind section, once the initial storm has passed (a whole CD of Salieri's overtures is available on the Naxos label). The twenty-six variations on 'la folia di Spagna' is a fascinating piece. It is remarkable to hear an interpretation of this 16th century melody from the perspective of Viennese classicism. It is a late work, from 1815, and shows Salieri at the peak of his creative powers. Every possible avenue of variation is explored, each giving a new perspective on the simple melody, and introducing some interesting orchestral textures. As a whole, it has an immense power, and an almost Beethoven-like majesty. Salieri was not a symphonist, like Mozart or Haydn, but the few symphonies he did write possess his characteristic vivacity and originality. The slow movement of the 'Sinfonia Veneziana' is quite affecting, whilst the slow movement of 'Il giorno onomastico' is an exercise in simple elegance, with a wonderful effect created by a sequence of triplets. Listening to this CD should hopefully convince the listener that Salieri was a great composer, who was capable of far more than we are led to believe. We owe it to his memory to reject the malicious rumours that have overshadowed his fine compositions for too long.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bringing Salieri out of the shadow of Mozart,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salieri: Sinfonias (Audio CD)
This disc is part of Chandos' wonderful series, "Contemporaries of Mozart", and is a nice companion to the Salieri overtures disc on Marco Polo/Naxos (which I already reviewed). Between the two I would say that the LMP under Bamert give more precise and polished performances -- Bamert is a fastidious and exacting conductor who was a pupil of no less than George Szell and Leopold Stokowski (at different times naturally!).Of the works on this disc, I particularly enjoyed the Sinfonia "Onomastico", which is the only "legitimate" 4 movement symphony on this programme -- the others are extended opera ovetures or in one case (the Sinfonia "Veneziana") a modern compilation from separate overtures. The "Falstaff" overture was also particularly delightful -- I daresay if you played this for a friend without telling them who composed it they might just be fooled into thinking it was a lesser known Mozart overture. Likewise the "Cubla kan" overture, which seems to look forward a bit to the festive Rossini overtures of the next generation. The most unusual piece is the 26 variations on "La folia", composed late in Salieri's career (1815), and with an unusual instrumentation, including trombones and even a tambourine. All in all, this is a very fine disc, and should give the lie to those who harbour misconceptions about Salieri derived from the fictionalized treatment in the film "Amadeus". No genius perhaps, but a major composer of his day, still worth hearing. 14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worthy music,
By FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salieri: Sinfonias (Audio CD)
It is unfortunate that Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825) is known now almost exclusively for being the nemesis of Mozart in the Peter Schaffer play and subsequent film 'Amadeus'. Salieri was certainly much more than the thwarted, second-rate composer. Perhaps he was not in Mozart's league so far as composition power goes (although the best of Salieri certainly stands up as worthy in comparison with many of the major composers of his time), but he was a respected composer in his own time, and perhaps more than for his composition, he was respected as a teacher and court musician. Salieri counts among his pupils Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and even Mozart's second son.
His operas tended to follow a particularly popular formula, with dramatic flairs and stories easily accessible to the people. He drew inspiration from historical works, from mythological and fictional works, as well as works of popular circulation. Salieri even used some libretti from Lorenzo de Ponte, perhaps better known now as a librettist for Mozart. This disc includes overtures of twelve operas (Salieri wrote nearly 50 operas, several of which were not premiered until the 1990s). They include pieces from his dramatic operas as well as his comic operas. The power in these is certainly evident. Perhaps the best of the lot is 'Cesare in Farmacusa (Tempesta di Mare)' and 'Axur, Re d'Ormus', an opera also involving de Ponte, and reworked from an earlier attempt to do a French opera into an Italian one. It is a mistake (reinforced by 'Amadeus') to classify Salieri as an Italian composer - he lived most of his life in Vienna, and was criticised by the Empress at one point for being too much of a German composer. Salieri's works such as 'Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamace', the overture of which is included here, certainly shows his strength in writing toward the German. This disc is a fun disc to listen to. There is nothing earth-shattering or new here, but these pieces are good compositions, and the performances by the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), under the direction of Michael Dittrich, is exemplary. This is one of those often-overlooked Eastern European orchestras that has incredible performance ability; they have had international touring experience as well as a number of recordings for Naxos, who is to be praised for bringing less popular music to the general public in an affordable way. 13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My God... You moviegoers ruin everything...,
By David Labelle - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salieri: Sinfonias (Audio CD)
It's nice to know that you need a movie to awaken you to classical music. If you had been introduced to Salieri in any way other than the Milos Forman film, you would realize the truth. Amadeus is a MOVIE... just like TITANIC is a movie. FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNT OF HISTORICAL FACTS...While adding in elements of fiction to enhance the DRAMA.. Salieri is a good composer. I suggest that you do your research, pal. Do you know that he and Mozart once shared a bill? Now, ANYONE can safely say that had they been enemies, they would not have dreamed of having their operas performed together.. Music is a personal thing for those who create it. But anyway, Salieri deserves to be noticed.
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