NICCOLÒ CASTIGLIONI (1932–1996)
COMPLETE PIANO WORKS • 2
ALDO ORVIETO
‘This album presents some of the most important piano compositions of the late 20th-century in Italy, from the neo-Classical-style exercises of Castiglioni’s student years to his first experiments with dodecaphony in the spring of 1954. In the early Cangianti, a mass of sounds that spin around one another, the piano alternates between dazzling, flamboyant virtuosity and intimate contemplation. The mood has changed by the time we get to the composer's mature works. One of the most characteristic piano works of this phase, Dulce refrigerium comprises “six sacred songs” which unfold in a single melodic line with extreme metric variation; the atmosphere is surreal, inviting reflection on the mystery of God. In Castiglioni’s last piece for piano (He), one of his most radical, the pianist plays a a single uneven line of varying density fortissimo for seven minutes. Each pianistic figure crystallizes into a major seventh (E-F) of grating dissonance. The tension grows, but there seems to be no way out and the dyad is repeated obsessively 111 times over several minutes to great incantatory effect. The piece bids farewell with a smile in the form of a playful, mocking, dodecaphonic rallentando.’ – Aldo Orvieto
