Domenico Labocetta (1823-1896)
Duo pour violoncelle et harpe "Il Marinaro", op. 50
"Ninna nanna", pour violoncelle et piano en sol majeur
Barcarolle pour violoncelle et piano en la mineur
Nocturne pour 2 violoncelles et piano en sol mineur
Mélodie pour violoncelle et piano en ré mineur
Romance pour violoncelle et piano en do majeur
"Al chirao di luna", pour violoncelle et harpe
Mélodie pour violoncelle et piano en ré mineur "Tristezza"
"Cosetta" pour violoncelle et piano en do majeur
Quatre morceaux pour voix, violoncelle et piano
Andante sostenuto pour quatuor de violoncelles
"Il poveretto", pour 4 violoncelles et contrebasse
"Il Rimprovero", pour 4 violoncelles et contrebasse
"La zingara", pour 4 violoncelles et contrebasse

Matteo Malagoli, violoncelle seul
Lisa De Polo, piano
Cristina Centra, harpe
Yukiko Shimizu, soprano
Raffaele Giordani, ténor
Ginevra Matteo, violoncelle

Ce cd de 89'17 prétend-il au record de minutage? Il faut dire que Domenico Laboccetta avait deux cordes, l'une instrumentale, l'autre vocale, à son arc : violoncelliste dès l'âge de 7 ans au Teatro Nuovo de Messine, nommé professeur de son instrument en 1877 au Conservatoire San Pietro a Majella de Naples; ténor à succès depuis ses débuts dans la 'Sonnambula' de Bellini jusqu'à une carrière internationale à Londres, Vienne, Berlin, Hambourg, aux Etats-Unis et au Brésil. Les oeuvres de sa composition qui nous sont proposées constituent une carte de visite de son talent multi-facettes (il passe à bon droit pour le 'père du quatuor de violoncelles'). Violoncelle et harpe ou piano, soprano ou ténor avec violoncelle et piano ou piano seul, quatuors pour violoncelles avec ou sans contrebasse: un véritable fourre-tout de pièces souvent exquises et sans grande prétention. Matteo Malagoli et l'équipe rassemblée autour de lui nous font partager leur plaisir à interpréter un répertoire qui rappelle celui que les casinos offraient aux curistes à la grande époque des villes d'eaux : une musique qui coule de source à consommer sans modération avec une tasse d'earl grey. (Michel Lorentz-Alibert)

Romantic miniatures by a forgotten Italian cellist and composer: the first album ever dedicated to the music of Domenico Laboccetta. Born to a poor family in the Sicilian town of Messina, Domenico Laboccetta (1823-1896) was entrusted to the care of an orphanage where his musical talents rapidly revealed themselves as a child. At the age of seven he made an appearance in concert at the Teatro Nuovo in Messina, and soon won a scholarship to study gratis at the conservatoire in Naples. At just 18, he became principal cellist of the Teatro San Carlo, at a time when the opera house was known across Europe for staging and advancing the works of bel canto composers such as Donizetti and Bellini. Through this experience, Laboccetta developed a superb tenor voice alongside his cello playing, and soon began taking lead roles in those bel canto masterpieces such as Bellini’s La Sonnambula. He went on to tour Europe and America in the 1850s, but eventually settled back in his adopted home of Naples, where he became professor of cello at the conservatoire in 1877, and passed on his mastery of the instrument to students for almost the next 20 years until his death. In Laboccetta, the cellist and indefatigable researcher Matteo Malagoli has turned up another remarkable figure down the byways of cello history. His booklet essay introduces Laboccetta’s eventful life, providing invaluable context to these miniatures written for salon performances among friends and patrons in Neapolitan musical life in the later decades of the 19th century – music written above all to charm and entertain. ‘Deserves the attention of listeners intrigued by history and appreciative of fine playing. It’s an album that will make a genuine contribution to any collector’s album hoard. Album leaves, romanzas and instrumental songs are scored for cello and piano or cello and harp, but there is also a ‘Notturnino’ for two cellos and piano. More substantial is a cycle of four songs for soprano, tenor, cello and piano: all beautifully evocative pieces with an affectingly folk-like simplicity of expression. Laboccetta was also a pioneer in the genre of cello quartets, and the album closes with several such works, ingeniously scored to exploit the full register and richness of the instrument. Malagoli’s previous albums for Brilliant Classics include a disc of music by Greco and Francone (96345), welcomed in glowing terms by Fanfare magazine: ‘Early Neapolitan Cello Music… deserves the attention of listeners intrigued by history and appreciative of fine playing. It’s an album that will make a genuine contribution to any collector’s album hoard.’