Wolf-Ferrari: String Trios, Quartets & Quintet Trio David

• Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876 - 1948): String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 23:
• 1 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 23: I. Allegro - Andante Tranquillo 09:01
• 2 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 23: II. Andante Cantabile 07:01
• 3 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 23: III. Capriccio. Allegro Pesante 05:38
• 4 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 23: IV. Allegro 08:19
• String Quartet in A Minor (Unpublished, 1894):
• 5 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in A Minor (Unpublished, 1894): I. Allegro Moderato 06:01
• 6 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in A Minor (Unpublished, 1894): II. Adagio non Troppo 07:41
• 7 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in A Minor (Unpublished, 1894): III. Allegro Vivacissimo 02:21
• 8 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quartet in A Minor (Unpublished, 1894): IV. Finale. Allegro Assai 06:30
• String Quintet in C Major, Op. 24 (1942):
• 9 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quintet in C Major, Op. 24 (1942): I. Allegro assai quasi Presto 06:56
• 10 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quintet in C Major, Op. 24 (1942): II. Larghetto 07:07
• 11 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quintet in C Major, Op. 24 (1942): III. Prestissimo 04:43
• 12 Wolf-Ferrari: String Quintet in C Major, Op. 24 (1942): IV. Molto mosso alla Breve 09:03
• String Trio in B Minor (1894):
• 13 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in B Minor (1894): I. Allegro 08:28
• 14 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in B Minor (1894): II. Larghetto 07:19
• 15 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in B Minor (1894): III. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace 05:21
• 16 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in C Minor: III. Scherzo. Allegro Molto 04:22
• 17 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in C Minor: IV. Adagio molto - Presto 03:59
• String Trio in A Minor, Op. 32 (Unpublished, 1945):
• 18 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in A Minor, Op. 32 (Unpublished, 1945): I. Allegro Moderato 05:27
• 19 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in A Minor, Op. 32 (Unpublished, 1945): II. Pastorale (Andante Tranquillo) 05:33
• 20 Wolf-Ferrari: String Trio in A Minor, Op. 32 (Unpublished, 1945): III. Allegro 06:42
• Total Runtime 02:07:32

Info for Wolf-Ferrari: String Trios, Quartets & Quintet

Wolf-Ferrari was a composer of great artistic merit, Italian by nationality but raised in Germany, unfairly forgotten and deserving of rediscovery. His works meld compositional and spiritual elements with a preference for melodic purity and smooth harmonies, a passion for clear and linear forms inspired by Classical-era Vienna, and a meticulous approach. His aversion to complexity and his love of clarity and simplicity – as far removed from the operatic verismo movement as from the experiments of the avant-garde – meant he was, in a certain sense, an isolated figure, yet he knew that, despite the nostalgia in his writing, he had his own vibrant and original voice. His writing for strings displays expert compositional technique and a thorough technical knowledge of the instruments.

The youthful String Trio in B minor and the related String Trio in C minor are edited by Luca Incerti based on the manuscript held at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (Mus. ms. 21366). The first trio is divided into three movements: Allegro, Larghetto and Scherzo (Allegro vivace). The second trio reuses the opening Allegro (raised to C minor) and Larghetto, adding a different ending in two new movements: Scherzo: Allegro molto and Adagio molto.

The String Trio in A minor (Op.32) is divided into three movements – Allegro moderato, Pastorale (Andante tranquillo) and Allegro – and was written in 1945, during the composer’s mature period.

The String Quartet in A minor was composed in 1894 and has also been edited by Luca Incerti, based on another manuscript held in Munich (Mus. ms. 23144-2). It comprises four movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio non troppo, Allegro vivacissimo and Allegro assai. The String Quartet in E minor is likewise split into four movements – Allegro, Andante cantabile, Capriccio (Allegro pesante) and Allegro – but its date of composition is unknown. However, by contrast it certainly stems from Wolf-Ferrari’s later years, when all the composer’s unique artistic traits came to the fore. As this quartet makes clear, in the context of the early 20th-century avant-garde, Wolf-Ferrari provided an alluring return to Classicism, but it was his own personal interpretation of the style, rather than an attempt to restore it. His neoclassicism appears more modern today than it would have done to his contemporaries. The String Quintet (2 violas) in C is recorded from another Luca Incerti edition, based on individual parts published by Thomi-Berg. It was written in 1942 and therefore belongs to the composer’s mature period. It has four movements: Allegro assai quasi presto, Larghetto, Prestissimo, and Molto mosso alla breve.

Quartetto Eos
Trio David
Matteo Rocchi, viola

Quartetto Eos
Formed in 2016 at the Conservatorio S. Cecilia in Rome, the Quartetto Eos immediately caught the attention of the musical world for the freshness and depth of its interpretations, winning in 2018 the "Premio Farulli" awarded by the Italian Music Critics as part of the 'Premio Franco Abbiati'.

The ensemble has already achieved important successes in international competitions, such as the 1º prize at the Orpheus Competition in Winterthur (2020), at the International String Quartet Competition "Premio Paolo Borciani" in Reggio Emilia (2024), the Anton Rubinstein International Competition in Düsseldorf (2019), the Sergio Dragoni Competition in Milan (2019). In 2023, he is a semi-finalist at the 77th edition of the prestigious Geneva Competition.

The Eos Quartet regularly plays for important musical institutions throughout Europe such as the Società del Quartetto in Milan, the Davos Festival, the IUC (Rome), the Filarmonica Romana, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Flagey in Brussels, Musikdorf Ernen, the Scarlatti Association of Naples, the Philharmonie de Paris, Ticino Musica, the Swiss Foundation of Basel and others.

He also frequently collaborates with musicians of the calibre of Calogero Palermo (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Gustavo Nuñez (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Jerusalem Quartet, Cremona Quartet, Enrico Pace, Aron Chiesa (Teatro alla Scala), Enrico Dindo and others.

He is currently attending the Master in Chamber Music 'The Ebène Academy' at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with the Ebène Quartet and regularly attends masterclasses with Alfred Brendel, Corina Belcea (Belcea Quartet), Eckart Runge, Patrick Jüdt (ECMA), Lawrence Dutton (Emerson Quartet), Isabel Charisius (Alban Berg Quartet), Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet) and the Jerusalem Quartet.

In addition, between 2017 and 2020 he attended the masterclass for string quartet at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona in the class of Quartetto di Cremona.

Since July 2022 he has been appointed 'Artist in Residence' at the prestigious Singer- Polignac Foundation in Paris under the recommendation of Pierre Colombet, first violin of the Quartet Ébène.

The ensemble was several times a guest on radio programmes on Rai Radio3, "SRF 2 Kultur" and on Rai 5, TV channel Rai 1.

In 2022, there debut album was released, entirely produced and financed by Da Vinci Records, featuring pieces by Janacek, Mendelssohn and Webern.

In 2024 a CD of music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari will be released, financed by COOP ART in Rome, organised by the Accademia degli Sfaccendati and produced by the 'Brilliant Classic' label, and between 2024/2025 he will be engaged in the recording of the complete quintets with piano and string quartets by G. Sgambati with the Tactus label.

They currently maintains active collaborations with several living composers, including Filippo Del Corno, Who dedicated one of his latest works to the ensemble.

The Quartet in 2024/2025 will be engaged in a European tour having been selected to be part of the prestigious MERITA project, run by the Association 'Le Dimore del Quartetto', of of which he has been an artist since 2017, and among other debuts, he will play in the main season of the Società del Quartetto di Milano at the prestigious Sala Verdi.

Matteo Rocchi
was born in Rome on 2 August 1990 and began studying the violin at the age of 10 with Maestro De Rossi. At the age of 14 he entered the conservatory under the guidance of M° Paris and subsequently of M° Burton under whom he graduated in 2012 with top marks, also winning the A.Giannuzzi scholarship as the best graduate of the year. He holds a classical high school diploma.

He actively attends the Masters of Masters M. Burton, M ° Paris, M ° B. Giuuranna and since 2011 of M ° S. Girshenko at important associations such as Accademia Stauffer, Chigiana and FIAMPSE.

In 2007 he won the audition to join the Italian youth orchestra and the EUYO, winning the scholarship from the Fiesole school. He has collaborated with important orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, "I Solisti Aquilani", the Regional Orchestra of Calabria "Paolo Serrao", the Orchestra of the Teatro Lirico of Cagliari, the orchestra of the municipal theater of Bologna (of the latter three holding the role of first viola). In 2013 he won first prize in national and international competitions as a soloist (Riviera Etrusca and Crescendo prize), in which he also won the prize as best violist of the competition. In the contemporary field since 2013 he has held the role of solo viola in the Imago Sonora group, making his debut in the summer concert season of the Filarmonica academy. He performs with them for the most important contemporary music festivals in the environment such as "Emu Fest", "Nuova Consonanza" and "Play it".

In 2011 he founded a duo with the pianist Alessandro Viale with whom he has studied at the Fiesole Academy since 2012 under the guidance of the masters P. Vernikov, B. Canino, Trio di Parma, N. Gutman and A. Lucchesini, winning the scholarship as the best formation and with which he distinguished himself in various national and international competitions (first prize in the Crescendo and Riviera Etrusca competitions, second prize in the Rospigliosi competition).

In 2012 he entered the W. Stauffer Academy under the guidance of Maestro B. Giuranna.

He has actively collaborated with the Agimus since 2012, performing solo recitals in various concert seasons in important halls such as the experimental theater of Ancona, the La Mortella gardens for the Walton Foundation in Ischia, Castel Sant'Angelo, Villa Giulia, the Alfredo Casella hall, fresco room for the Roman Philharmonic.

In 2014, 2015 and 2016 she performed on the occasion of the “Omaggio A Cremona” in chamber ensembles collaborating with great masters such as F. Petracchi and S. Accardo.

Since 2015 he has been the violist of the Guadagnini quartet with which he performs in important halls such as the Bellini Theater in Catania, the “Alfredo Piatti” Hall in Bergamo, the Ponchielli Theater, the Arvedi Auditorium and playing in important festivals such as the “Festival dei Due Mondi” in Spoleto.

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