Goffredo Petrassi - Concertos for Orchestra Nos. 7 & 8; Sonata da camera (Francesco La Vecchia)

Information

Composer: Goffredo Petrassi

• Concerto for Orchestra No. 7
• Concerto for Orchestra No. 8
• Sonata da camera

Mario Stefano Tonda, harpsichord

Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma

Francesco La Vecchia, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Naxos

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In the early 1960s Goffredo Petrassi’s idiom was almost indistinguishable from that of the Italian avant-garde. Completed in 1964, the Seventh Concerto evolves with mounting tension and a sense of underlying menace. The Eighth Concerto from 1972 was commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is a substantial piece of outright virtuosity, with dissonance, trenchant dialogues and a fraught atmosphere. The much earlier Sonata da camera for harpsichord and ten instruments finds Petrassi poised between neo-Classicism and a more modernist direction. This is the third and final volume of Petrassi’s complete Concertos for Orchestra on Naxos.

Goffredo Petrassi (1904–2003) was a prominent Italian composer, conductor, and teacher whose career spanned much of the 20th century. Initially trained at Rome’s Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, he was influenced by Palestrina and early music, later studying composition and organ. Encouraged by Alfredo Casella, Petrassi became a key figure in Italian music, teaching many notable composers. His diverse output included film scores (Riso amaro), ballets, operas like Il cordovano and Morte dell’Aria, and vocal and instrumental works. His style evolved from neoclassicism to atonalism, as seen in his Partita (1932) and orchestral concertos, culminating in adventurous late works like his Flute Concerto.

Born in Rome in 1954, Francesco La Vecchia began his musical journey early, giving his first concert at age nine. He became leader of the Boccherini Quartet at 18 and founded the Arts Academy of Rome at 23. By 27, he had launched an international recording career. In 2002, he became artistic director and resident conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, leading it to international acclaim with performances in major cities worldwide. His recordings include the “Maestro” series and projects for Naxos, Brilliant Classics, and Sony. La Vecchia has received numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to music.

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