This release couples Gian Francesco Malipiero’s two contrasting violin concertos with the world-premiere recording of his kaleidoscopic orchestral work Per una favola cavalleresca, evoking legendary scenes of love, tournaments, battles, moonbeams and heroes. Malipiero’s First Violin Concerto is one of his most beautiful and joyful works, a remarkable achievement for a composer who is said to have played the violin badly in his youth. His Second Violin Concerto, written 30 years later, sounds astonishingly different on a first hearing, but reveals itself to be inspired by the same lyrical impulse as the earlier concerto.

This disc will be released in the 140th anniversary year of Malipiero’s birth.

Francesco La Vecchia took up the position of artistic director and resident conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma in 2022. The ‘Maestro’ series of recordings, named after him, was first released in 1999. Since then he and the orchestra have recorded for Naxos an important and wide-ranging series of works by 19th- and 20th-century Italian composers, including many world premiere recordings. He has been the recipient of several important official awards in Italy and abroad.

Violin soloist Paolo Chiavacci has recorded Ghedini’s Contrappunti (8573006) with the same orchestra and conductor: ‘Performances and sound are excellent…Every admirer of modern music should at least sample this remarkable composer, and this is an excellent place to begin’ (American Record Guide).

The Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma have recorded many Italian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Busoni, Catalani, Ferrara, Ghedini, Malipiero, Mancinelli, Martucci, Mercadante, Petrassi, Sgambati and Wolf-Ferrari.

They have also recorded Malipiero’s Fantasie di ogni giorno on Naxos 8573291: ‘The Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma under Francesco La Vecchia…sound totally inside Malipiero’s elusive idiom and prove especially persuasive whenever the music relaxes and becomes enveloped in a gentle haze of half-whispered reminiscences. Well worth investigating’ (International Record Review).