Search MusicWeb Here Custom Search     International mailing Up to 40% off

Searching Musicweb Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages National discographies Online books Piano Trio Survey Gerard Hoffnung Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music collection Interviews Programme notes Other material Articles Seen & Heard Jazz reviews Message Board Announcements About Musicweb About Musicweb Contact Musicweb Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger

BUY NOW  Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Mario CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO (1895 - 1968) Ciprssi, Op. 17 (1920) [8.23] Il raggio verde, Op. 9 (1916) [6.03] Alghe, Op. 12 (1919) [4.33] I naviganti, Op. 13 (1919) [6.10] Lucertolina (1916) [1.20] la Sirenetta e il pesce turchino, Op. 18 (1920) [8.20] Passatempi, Op. 54 (1928) [7.06] Vitalba e Biancospino, Op. 21, (1921) [6.18] Questo fu il carro della Morte, Op. 2 (1913) [5.17] Epigrafe, Op. 25 (1922) [5.40] Cantico, Op. 19 (1920) [6.54] Jordi Masó, piano Recorded 27 June 2002 at the "Auditorium," Jafre, Spain. NAXOS 8.555856 [66.52]

While listening to this disk the image of Ravel is inescapable. Unfortunately the comparison is not kind. One eventually feels that one is listening to Ravel sort of rambling around at the piano, but nothing he played turned out to be worth working up into a publishable composition—for Ravel. But if you’re a fan of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s you will want this disk to show you a side of his music you would never guess at if you knew only his better known works. Much of this music is very interesting, intriguing. Jordi Masó is a superb pianist and I look forward to hearing him play Liszt. If you had spent the price of this disk to hear this music in a live piano concert, at the end of the evening you would have felt that this was money very well spent indeed, yet none of these pieces has enough rhetorical integrity or individual personality to be remembered in its own right. This disk is a pleasant musical experience much drawn out. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s name means roughly "The German from New Castile." He was descended from Sephardic Jews forced out of Spain by Isabella in the 15th century, and it was his sad destiny to be forced out of Italy by Mussolini in the 20th Century to take asylum and citizenship in the USA. He joined the Hollywood émigré community, wrote hundreds of film scores, and was a notable teacher with many famous students including André Previn, Henry Mancini and Jerry Goldsmith. Paul Shoemaker   Advertising on Musicweb Donate and keep us afloat   New Releases Nimbus Podcast Obtain 10% discount Special offer 50% off Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable (THE Polish label) Altus 10% off Atoll 10% off CRD 10% off Hallé 10% off Lyrita 10% off Nimbus 10% off Nimbus Alliance Prima voce 10% off Red Priest 10% off Retrospective 10% off Saydisc 10% off Sterling 10% off Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly review listing sample Sample: See what you will get Editorial Board MusicWeb International Founding Editor    Rob Barnett Senior Editor John Quinn Seen & Heard Editor Emeritus    Bill Kenny Editor in Chief    Vacant MusicWeb Webmaster    David Barker MusicWeb Founder    Len Mullenger

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.