FRANZ SCHUBERT

(1797 - 1828)

Quintetto per pianoforte, violino, violoncello e contrabbasso in la maggiore, op. 114 (D. 667) “La Trota”

Allegro Vivace                     (14’12”)

Andante                               (6’55”)

Scherzo: Presto                   (4’07”)

Tema: Andantino                            

Variazioni 1/5 

Allegretto                  (7’46”)

Finale: Allegro giusto          (6’46”)

LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN

(1770 - 1827)

Trio per pianoforte, violino e violoncello n. 4 in re maggiore, op. 70 n. 1 “Trio degli spettri”

Allegro vivace e con brio     (6’56”)

Largo assai ed espressivo   (9’55”)

Presto                                     (8’12”)

Durata: 1h 04’ 49”

Il concerto di Natale ed il concerto di Primavera, offerti dalla Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa nel quadro della stagione concertistica della Scuola Normale Superiore, sono ormai diventati una tradizione per il nostro Istituto ed hanno acquistato un rilievo particolare, ottenendo sempre una larga partecipazione di pubblico, tra tutte le iniziative a carattere artistico e culturale promosse dalla Cassa. Per questo motivo la registrazione dal vivo e la riproposizione del Concerto di Natale del 1989, tenuta nel restaurato Teatro Verdi di Pisa, è apparsa come un'ulteriore opportunità per tornare a gustare l'atmosfera ed il fascino suscitati allora da una esecuzione di particolare qualità artistica. Il Trio di Fiesole ed i Maestri Piero Farulli e Franco Petracchi, che hanno ottenuto riconoscimenti prestigiosi in Italia e all'estero, tornano dunque a farci ascoltare il "Trio degli spettri" di Beethoven ed il Quintetto "La Trota" di Schubert in un'interpretazione originale ed unica. Infine, un'ultima annotazione in margine alla scelta dei brani musicali. Le biografie tramandano che il Quintetto "La Trota" venne scritto da Schubert per un gruppo di amici musicofili, rielaborando appositamente per il loro inconsueto organico strumentale un suo lied. Storia o aneddoto che sia, questa piccola coincidenza carica di un ulteriore significato il dono di questa incisione fatta realizzare dalla Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa apposita-mente per tutte quelle persone che sono entrate in rapporto con il nostro Istituto e che ci fa piacere considerare "amici".

FRANZ SCHUBERT 

Lichtental (Vienna) 1797 - Vienna 1828 

QUINTET FOR PIANOFORTE, VIOLIN, VIOLA, VIOLONCELLO AND DOUBLE-BASS IN LA MAJOR, OP. 114 (D. 667) "THE TROUT" 

The Quintet with pianoforte in La major, op. 114 (D.667) "The Trout" constitutes, together with two trios with pianoforte op. 99 and op. 100 and two lesser-known works, Schubert's contribution to music for chamber groups with pianoforte. In this passage associated with the pianoforte is the violin, the viola, the violoncello and the double-bass. The rather unusual organic instrumentation, it seems, was suggested by the purchaser and dedicated patron of the Quintet, Sylvester Paumgartner. Schubert had met this music-lover and amateur violoncellist in the summer of 1819 at Steyr during a holiday spent in Styria with the singer Vogl. It seems that in Paumgartner's house, they together with other friends, executed the Quintet in Mi flat minor by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, in which the second violin is substituted by the double-bass. Schubert terminated the composition during the year 1819. Shortly after his death, Vogl attracted the attention of the editor Czemy to the existence of said work, which was published at Vienna in 1829. Also the subdivision of the Quintet in five movements, with every probability, is due to the desire expressed by Paumgartner to have a part which is in variable forms for his preferred "lied" (Tune): Die Forelle (The Trout) which Schubert composed in 1817. However, when listening to the quintet, it would be opportune for the just appreciation of the opera, to not lose sight of the circumstances which determined its creation. It is a matter of not overvalueing, to the detriment of the other movements, the fourth part which indeed contains the instrumental version of the well-known Lied Tune). Really, all the movements of the Quintet possess such outstanding stylistic peculiarity, that from the very first part, they are impressive for their singularity. After an introduction of several beats, the first movement Allegro vivace carries on with sinuous and ductile motion, so much so that one is brought to really imagining the clear and fresh flow of a stream. The thematic arrangement is dealt with by the five instruments with masterly command, not only melodic but also rhythmic. The variety of timbre to which Schubert aspires right from the start, is worthy of note. The successive "Andante”, which we consider to be the most beautiful of five movements, is pervaded by an intense and assorted sentiment. Here and there, echoes reminiscent of Magyar popular tunes emerge; probably captured during the musician's stay at Szeliz in Hungary, in 1818. The movement is subdivided into congruent parts; the first in Fa major, the second in La flat major, and this transposition also accentuates the variety of timbre. A brilliant "Scherzo”, with "Trio" in Re major, confirms the light character impressed by Schubert to the Quintet. At the start of the fourth movement, the harps by themselves expose the melody of the lied (Tune) in pp. With the entry of the pianoforte, the rounds of variety commence and seem to illustrate the events described in Schubert's poem. The five variations are distinct from a smooth and clear scripture, approximating to certain models offered by classic literature. Finally, in the "Allegretto”, the genial figuration in sextains appears which characterizes the accompaniment of the lied (Tune) and which features the trout's rapid flashes through the water. After this magnificent contribution by Schubert to the "Wassermusik", i.e, music inspired by water, its flow and its eternal inconstancy, so much loved by romantic authors; there is still space for a Finale (Allegro giusto) which, in the Viennese style, is varied and fascinating. 

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 

Bonn 1770 - Vienna 1827 

TRIO FOR PIANOFORTE, VIOLIN AND VIOLONCELLO N.4 IN RE MAJOR, OP. 70 N.1 

Beethoven's potent phantasy, by now enclosed within the walls of his deafness, created two masterpieces in 1808 in which the sublimity of sound is reached: Symphony N.6 in Fa major "Pastorale”. Above all we may recall the Andante molto mosso entitled "Szene am Bach" and the Trio n.1 of the opera 70, "Geistertrio”. The scheme of the first part of the Trio op.70 N. 1 is that classic one of the forma-sonata: first theme - secondary theme - development - resumption. Only that, Beethoven enriches it to such a degree that - one may say that he flings into it handfulls of those sonorific figures, for the greater part deriving from thematic material -that the only remains of the theme is the function of the ruled lines; a pathway for finding one's direction in those intricate meanders which vein the Allegro vivace e con brio. At the start of the first part, the principle theme arises in the first four beats with energetic gesture of all the instruments in unison on four octaves. In the seventh and eighth beat, only the violoncello presents p dolce, the secondary theme. A transitional modulation conveys to the tonality of Si flat major already adumbrated in the "Fa naturale" which appears after the exposition of the principal theme. The "Allegro" is subdivided into two parts, the first part having a simpler composition; the other more complex. Whilst in the first part only the canonic imitation of the second theme appears, in the second part a refined counterpointistic play starts and continues right up to the return of the principle theme in Re major. The development is enriched by a new theme which ascends the scale up to the seventh and then descends and is first collocated in the superior voice, then in the bass of the pianoforte. A fragment taken from the second theme is imitated by the instruments up to the point where it would seem that the movement depletes in its strict canon, but the events become animated, and a conflict arises between all the voices. On the return of the principle theme in its original tonality, a surprising round of audacious modulations follows (Re minor, Si flat major, La major, Re major) at which the final theme of the first part in variated theme occurs. The movement concludes in unison with the first part of the principle theme. The basic motive with which the second movement opens, "Largo assai ed espressivo" in Re minor in 2/4, may be considered to be a derivation of the principle theme of the first movement. In the beats three and four, an altered accord provocates a shock in the obscure contrived sound. After a brief modulation of the tonality of F major, one assists to a melodic display of the theme which culminates "ff" in a stridulous altered accord, which therefore is rendered by "Arpeggio" with ascending movement, "Diminuendo" in the bass of the pianoforte. The first train of events vanishes in a descending pearled figuration. The second section is executed pp on the ethereal tremolos of the pianoforte. The basic motive only winds around in the strings. A mysterious clearing of timbres slowly depletes itself in a spectral Do major. A brief intense passage brings back Re minor to basic tonality. Events are repeated with grandiose expressivity twice again. After which the motive dissolves. The passage terminates, diminishing on a descending chromatic scale in four octaves. The extraordinary timbre effects of this passage, whose fading anti dissolving, have given rise to the sub-title "Geistertrio" (Spectral trio, or more appropriately, Trio of the spirits), with which title the opera is commonly known, are created by a profound poetic feeling. The last part "Presto" in Re major in 4/4 detaches itself from the nocturnal atmosphere of the slow movement; reacquiring the luminous transparency of the "Allegro”. As if shook by a gust of wind, the finale of the Presto develops with great movement at the various sonic levels. Also here the timbres become an essential part of the discourse. The confines of tonality disintegrate. A Trio to be listened to as a story. A beautiful musical dissertation where suggestive images alternate with moments of authentic suspense. 

Antonio Mazzoni