Review of Appunti di viaggio sulla chitarra del XX° secolo by Vincenzo Saldarelli, guitart, 2013
2013 must have been a very interesting year for the Italian Maestro Vincenzo Saldarelli. This is due to this double cd always linked to contemporary music and the beautiful book that accompanies it. A work that testifies to the long work and the strenuous dedication expressed by the Maestro towards contemporary music and also his personal work as a composer.
The first CD testifies Saldarelli’s ability in concert showing a program that starts with a classic piece that, at the same time can be considered as a one of the first contemporary guitar’s pieces, Manuel de Falla’s Homanaje, a passage that, in a certain sense, was the first to show the new expressive possibilities of the classical guitar. A concert, recorded in Modena at the Auditorium of the Institute of Musical Studies “O.Vecchi – A. Tonelli”, where we also find other tracks, all by Italian authors: Nunc di Goffredo Petrassi, Dialogo by Andrea Talmelli, Nel flusso del tempo by Armando Gentilucci, Intermezzo by Francesco Pennisi, Elegia Mediterranea by Saldarelli, Quasi una Serenata by Camillo Togni, but above all Echi by Giacomo Manzoni, here in his first absolute recording. Finally. I write finally because it was time that a work as interesting and important as Manzoni’s Echi finally found a place in a discography.
The second CD is no less rich in satisfactions. If the first one was closed with Nunc di Petrassi, the second begins with the other important guitar work of the Roman composer: Suoni Notturni. Sadarelli always returns as a composer with his Due affetti per sedici corde and Cinque Studi da Lezioni Americane di Italo Calvino, followed by Due Pezzi by Maurizio Ferrari, Dulcedine blanda by Fernando Mencherini, Left and Soft – quattro divertimenti brevi per chitarra by Giovanni Indulti s and, to close the cd Parable N ° 2 by Lawrence Singer.
Listening to this double CD would not be complete without the careful reading of the beautiful volume of over fifty pages, always published by guitart that accompanying it. I must say that I have to praise this excellent work that combines the pleasure of listening and reading: Maestro Saldarelli has been able to combine his work as an interpreter with that of popularizer succeeding in giving more prominence to the importance of music for contemporary guitar.
NeuGuitars 