Program Notes and Context of the Album
 

Recording date: live capture of the concert performed on March 25, 2022, in the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos of the National Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The concert was filmed and broadcast live via streaming on YouTube and Facebook Live. Conductor: Sebastiano De Filippi.
 

• Piazzolla: Contemplación y Danza for clarinet and string orchestra (1947)

Originally written for clarinet and string orchestra in 1947, this early work by Piazzolla reflects his deep academic training (prior to his period in Paris with Nadia Boulanger). The opening movement, Contemplación, explores the expressive capabilities and melancholy lyricism of the clarinet in an intimate setting, while Danza bursts with a markedly neoclassical rhythmic dynamism, offering early glimpses of the musical language that would later revolutionize tango.
 

• Rachmaninoff: Vocalise for clarinet and string orchestra (1915)

Originally composed in 1915 as the last of his 14 Songs, Op. 34, this piece was conceived for wordless solo voice, sustained purely by the expressiveness of the melodic line. In this version for clarinet and string orchestra, the instrument naturally assumes that cantabile role. The work is one of the pinnacles of Russian post-Romantic lyricism, characterized by a suspended, nostalgic melody that demands absolute control of phrasing and bel canto.
 

• Taneyev: Canzona for clarinet and string orchestra (1883)
   

Sergey Taneyev, one of the most prominent intellectual and compositional figures of late 19th and early 20th-century Russia, originally wrote this work for clarinet and string quintet (or piano). The Canzona stands out for its exquisite formal balance and deep melodic nobility. Through a fluid and refined dialogue with the string orchestra, the piece showcases the warmth of the clarinet's timbre in its middle and lower registers, evoking an atmosphere of elegant romanticism.


Do you want to learn more about the history and structure of Taneyev's Canzona?
Read the article (with video) on the blog →