Valentino Bertoja (1757-1820)
Duo pour violoncelle n° 6 en mi bémol majeur

Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870)
Elegie
Solo
The Dream
Salve Maria

Padre Placido Abela (1814-1876)
Concerto armonico
Messe Solennelle

Ernesto Antonio Luigi Coop (1802-1879)
La Passione, op. 40
Pensiero lugubre, op. 50

Domenico Laboccetta (1823-1896)
Barcarolle

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
"Casta diva, che inargenti", extrait de "Norma"

Domenico Corigliano (1770-1838)
In Monte Oliveti
Plange quasi Virgo
Sancta Maria

Pietro Ray (1773-1857)
Salve Regina

Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871)
Andante religioso

Padre Bonifacio Maria Krug (1838-1909)
Il Golgota

Hazar Muritpnar, baryton
Raffaele Giordani, ténor
Matteo Malagoli, violoncelle
Lisa De Polo, piano
Cristina Centa, harpe
Alvise Mason, harmonium
Alan Dario, violoncelle
Angelo Liziero, contrebasse
Milli Fullin vocal Quartet

Yukiko Shimizu, soprano
Ludovica Marcuzzi, soprano
Flavia Del Giudice, mezzo-soprano
Milli Fullin, mezzo-soprano

Alberto Pelosin, direction

La bibliothèque de l’abbaye de Montecassino recèle une abondante littérature du 19ème siècle pour violoncelle. Sa présence est principalement due à un moine lui-même violoncelliste, le père Mauro Liberatore à qui l’on doit la plus grande partie des arrangements d’œuvres (dont l’inévitable « Casta diva ») figurant au programme de ces deux CD. Pour le reste il s’agit de compositions originales d’un autre religieux (le père Placido Abela, pianiste et organiste de l’abbaye), de pièces provenant de Naples toute proche, voire de cadeaux faits à l’abbaye (l’Andante religioso du pianiste Sigismund Thalberg). Le premier CD offre un florilège de pièces profanes qui sont essentiellement d’aimables divertissements ou de véritables curiosités (les Concerti armonici d’Abela pour violoncelle, piano et harmonium). Le second disque est consacré à des pièces religieuses, requérant souvent la présence de chanteurs. J’ai beaucoup apprécié la manière dont les interprètes varient les climats, passant de la « musique pour amateurs » (Bertoja par exemple) à des expressions musicales plus exigeantes. Dommage que le baryton du « Sogno » de Mercadante soit placé dans une impossible perspective sonore ! Un coffret amusant et surprenant, pour oreilles curieuses. (Olivier Eterradossi)

Rare manuscripts from the library of an Italian abbey, rediscovered and recorded for the first time. Just off the main road between Rome and Naples, the Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino can date its foundation back to AD529, though it gained a more tragic renown during the Second World War as the site of exceptionally heavy Allied bombing in order to break Nazi defensive lines. The abbey’s surviving library of manuscripts (theological, musical and others) was mostly moved to Rome during postwar reconstruction, but local archives mined for this release have turned up a treasure trove of pieces which testify to a lively culture of chamber music at the abbey during the 19th century. Several of the brothers must have been dedicated cellists of considerable gifts to judge from the surviving scores. They include a collection of six cello duets by Valentino Bertoja (1757-after 1820), a composer from the Veneto region to the north; the Duet No 6 opens this collection. The two most prominent monk musicians featured here are Padre Placido Abela (1814-1876), originally from Siracusa in Sicily, and Padre Mauro Liberatore (1810- 1879) from L’Aquila. It is Liberatore who arranged both sacred and secular pieces to give a starring role to the cello, such as ‘Casta Diva’ from Bellini’s Norma, and a then-popular aria from Mercadante’s Il giuramento. Abela composed ‘Concerti armonici’ for a trio of piano, harmonium and cello, and then a part for the string instrument in the liturgical inserts of his Missa solennis. Other composers wrote pieces specifically for Liberatore to play, such as the Barcarola by the Sicilian cellist and composer Domenico Laboccetta (1823-1896), and two composers local to Monte Cassino, Pietro Ray (1773- 1857) and Domenico Corigliano (1770- 1838). This exceptionally rare repertoire is introduced in a booklet essay by the cellist Matteo Malagoli, who is the principal soloist on a collection of similar historical value from Brilliant Classics, of ‘Early Neapolitan Cello Music’ (96345) by Gerco and Francone.