Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
CDS7813
Dynamic Srl
Via Mura Chiappe 39, 16136 Genova - Italy DynamicOperaClassic
tel.+39 010.27.22.884 fax +39 010.21.39.37
Dynamic opera
and classical music
dynamic@dynamic.it
#Dynamic40
visit us at www.dynamic.it #Dynamic40
7813 cover.qxp_CDS 7764 cover.qxd 07/08/2018 15:58 Page 2
Soprano
Carmela Remigio
Alto
Chiara Amarù
Tenor
Juan Francisco Gatell
Bass
Andrea Concetti
(tracks 6, 11)
Bass
Omar Montanari
(tracks 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16)
Chiara Amarù (Alto)
CDS7813 (DDD)
DONIZETTI. Messa di Requiem in Re è un Qui tollis per tenore e strumenti che risa-
minore per la morte di Vincenzo Bellini le addirittura al 1814, cioè all’epoca in cui il
musicista bergamasco aveva solamente
Il catalogo delle opere sacre di Gaetano diciassette anni. Molte altre opere sacre furo-
Donizetti è imponente, e comprende oltre 100 no scritte da Donizetti negli anni in cui studia-
titoli, la maggior parte dei quali ancora inediti. va alla scuola di padre Mattei, a Bologna, tra
Va però detto che i pezzi di ampie dimensioni il 1815 e il 1817, impratichendosi anche nello
e di vasta architettura, come ad esempio le stile severo della musica da chiesa: stile seve-
messe, sono in netta minoranza. Prevalgono ro al quale peraltro Donizetti, come composi-
soprattutto i piccoli brani di circostanza e gli tore, dedicò pochissima attenzione negli anni
esercizi scolastici scritti al tempo dell’appren- giovanili. In queste sue opere sacre degli anni
distato sotto la guida di Simone Mayr, che di apprendistato è difficile trovare passaggi
erano tanto più importanti per un operista pro- contrappuntisticamente elaborati, o la ricerca
prio perché esercitandosi nell’ambito della di quella ipotetica purezza di stile che fu invece
musica sacra, a differenza di quanto avveniva motivo ricorrente nelle opere sacre degli autori
nella musica puramente strumentale, il com- attivi nella seconda metà dell’Ottocento. La
positore poteva cimentarsi con le voci, stu- produzione sacra donizettiana si concentra
diando le loro possibilità espressive e facen- dunque quasi tutta tra il 1814 e il 1824. Dopo
do anche quella pratica di canto accompa- quella data Donizetti scriverà solamente un
gnato che poi gli sarebbe tornata assai utile pugno di opere, tra cui la Messa di Requiem
per le sue opere teatrali. Purtroppo abbiamo per la morte di Vincenzo Bellini, il Miserere a
scarse informazioni sulla musica sacra donizet- più voci con orchestra, composto per la
tiana. Per nostra sfortuna, l’epistolario è prati- Cappella di Corte di Vienna, e infine l’Ave
camente muto su questo argomento e non ci Maria, scritta a Vienna nel 1842. In quell’anno,
dice quasi nulla sull’origine di quasi tutte que- infatti, Donizetti, che era ancora suddito
ste composizioni. Possiamo anche aggiungere dell’Impero, nella speranza di essere nomina-
che nel quadro complessivo della produzione to Hofkapellmeister dell’Imperatore d’Austria
del compositore la musica sacra sembra aver Ferdinando, inviò alla corte di Vienna un’Ave
rivestito un ruolo di minore importanza rispetto Maria, per far presente a chi di dovere che,
alla produzione di Rossini o di Verdi, anche se oltre che un celebre e reputato compositore
c’è una rilevante eccezione, che è appunto la d’opera, egli era anche un buon cristiano,
Messa di Requiem qui incisa. capace di scrivere eccellente musica da chie-
Le prime opere sacre donizettiane apparten- sa: un mese dopo Donizetti fu effettivamente
gono agli anni di studio e di apprendistato. La nominato Hofkapellmeister.
prima composizione datata che conosciamo Nel 1835 sia Donizetti che Bellini si trovavano
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nioso. Le tre voci maschili dominano in modo Lacrymosa. Ma questo nulla toglie alla profon-
quasi incontrastato lungo tutto il corso della da ispirazione e al commosso senso di parte-
Messa di Requiem, con momenti solistici cipazione umana che chiunque può facilmen-
anche di grande rilevanza, come ad esempio te percepire fin dalle prime battute di quest’o-
il bellissimo Ingemisco per tenore solo, dive- pera ancora oggi poco conosciuta e degna di
nuto ormai una vera e propria pagina di reper- essere collocata tra le più alte scritte dal musi-
torio in molti recital tenorili. cista bergamasco.
L’aspetto più rilevante di questo Requiem
donizettano del 1835 è costituito dal suo pro- Danilo Prefumo
fondo lirismo, unito ad una concezione poten-
temente drammatica che però assai raramen-
te indugia ad accogliere al proprio interno ele-
menti di palese derivazione operistica. Si trat-
ta, al contrario, di un’opera profondamente
austera, a tratti perfino pudica, e assoluta-
mente poco incline all’esteriorità. In essa
Donizetti utilizza, molto semplicemente, il lin-
guaggio vocale e strumentale del suo tempo,
non diversamente dal Rossini dello Stabat
Mater e dal Verdi del Requiem; sicché l’accu-
sa di “operismo” così spesso rivolta a questa
musica, specie dalla critica di matrice austro-
tedesca, appare oggi semplicemente ridicola.
Non mancano, senza dubbio, momenti dram-
maticamente più esteriori, ad esempio nel
Dies Irae, il quale sollecita fatalmente anche
qualche paragone col ben più celebre Dies
Irae del Requiem verdiano, e anche qualche
isolato passaggio di più spiccata inclinazione
operistica, come ad esempio nel duetto tra
tenore e basso Judex ergo; e volutamente
molto limitato è, senza dubbio, l’impiego dello
stile severo e del contrappunto osservato, che
Donizetti utilizza su larga scala, peraltro con
eccellenti risultati, solo nel Kyrie e nel
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DONIZETTI. Messa di Requiem in D minor when he was studying at the school of Father
for the death of Vincenzo Bellini Mattei, in Bologna, between 1815 and 1817,
when he also practised composing in the rig-
The catalogue of Gaetano Donizetti’s sacred orous style of church music: a style to which,
works is vast, comprising over a hundred in any case, Donizetti gave little considera-
titles, most of which remain unpublished. The tion, as a young composer. In these early
large scale, structurally elaborate works, such sacred works of his we hardly find any elabo-
as for example the masses, are however a rate counterpoint, or that hypothetical purity
minority: most of the catalogue consists of of style which, instead, was highly sought
short, occasional works and of the academic after by composers of sacred music in the first
exercises written when Donizetti was being half of the 1800s. Donizetti’s sacred output is
tutored by Simone Mayr, exercises that for an all concentrated in the years between 1814
operatic composer in the making were all the and 1824. After 1824 he would only write a
more important, because they gave him the handful of works, among them the Messa di
opportunity to deal with voices, study their Requiem for the death of Vincenzo Bellini; a
expressive potential and try his hand at com- Miserere for voices and orchestra, composed
posing for voice and accompaniment, all of for the Vienna Court Chapel; and an Ave Maria
which would be very useful to him in his oper- composed in Vienna in 1842. That year
atic career. Unfortunately, we have little infor- Donizetti, who was still a subject of the
mation about Donizetti’s sacred music. Empire, in the hope of being nominated
Regrettably, his letters hardly mention this Hofkapellmeister by the Emperor of Austria,
subject, saying almost nothing about the ori- indeed sent to the Court of Vienna an Ave
gin of nearly all these compositions. We ought Maria to remind those concerned that, in addi-
to say that in the overall picture of the com- tion to being a renowned operatic composer,
poser’s production, sacred music seems to he was also a good Christian and one more
have had a role of minor importance, com- than able to compose excellent church music:
pared to that of Rossini or Verdi; however, a month later he got the post.
there is a significant exception: the Messa di In 1835 both Donizetti and Bellini were in
Requiem here recorded. Paris, busy trying to show their worth to
Donizetti’s earliest sacred compositions date French audiences with new operas and old
from his years of training. The very first work ones specifically reworked for the theatres of
that we know of is a Qui tollis for tenor and the French capital. On January 24th, at the
instruments dating to as early as 1814, when Théâtre Italien, Bellini reaped a resounding
the composer was but seventeen. Several success with I Puritani. The opera was a real
other sacred works were written by Donizetti triumph, and shortly afterwards Bellini was
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awarded the Legion of Honour. Donizetti was Alessandro Nini conducting. Several days
not as fortunate: his Marin Faliero, staged at later, the “Gazzetta Musicale di Milano”
the same theatre on 12th March, was received reviewed the event in rather dry words:
coolly and withdrawn after only five perfor- “Donizetti’s Unpublished Mass, which we
mances, to the composer’s disappointment mentioned in one of our previous issues, per-
and Bellini’s ill-concealed satisfaction. On formed by over eighty musicians with the
23rd September, Bellini suddenly died of addition of the organ, was judged worthy of its
acute inflammation of the colon, presumably author’s fame. Among its best pieces are the
contracted long before. Donizetti sincerely Requiem, the Dies Irae introduction, a tenor-
considered his colleague and rival a friend, baritone duet, and a piece for brass instru-
even though his feelings were barely recipro- ments. The performance was weak”.
cated by the Sicilian musician. In memory of Donizetti’s Messa di Requiem does not
Bellini, in spite of his busy theatrical schedule, include the Sanctus, the Benedictus and the
Donizetti wrote, with his customary speed, a Agnus Dei; we do not know if this was by
Messa di Requiem in D minor, which was to choice (as it is, the work lasts about 70 min-
be performed in December of that same year, utes, and the three missing pieces would
1835. For reasons that are not clear, however have considerably dilated its duration) or if
this did not happen, as the composer men- this is due to the fact that the composer was
tions in a letter to Ricordi dated 20th October: objectively too busy to write them. It is also
“I had already endeavoured to organize interesting to note that the solo parts are five
things so that at the Filarmonica something instead of the traditional four: soprano, con-
would be done to attest our common grief… tralto, tenor, baritone and bass. However, the
The departure of an instigator left the question two female voices are sparingly employed.
dangling! Then I was to conduct a Mass at the The male voices dominate the entire Mass
Conservatory, and I had already begun writ- almost unchallenged, with solo passages of
ing it but, the performance taking place in great significance, such as the beautiful
December, I won’t be able to conduct it, and Ingemisco for tenor, which has become a
this grieves me… All I have tried to do has repertoire piece in many a tenor recital.
been countered by destiny”. It would be The most important aspects of this 1835
exactly thirty-five years before the work was Requiem are its profound lyricism and
publicly performed: Donizetti had already Donizetti’s powerfully dramatic approach,
been in his grave for twenty-two. The which, however, is rarely operatic in charac-
Requiem’s première took place on the ter. On the contrary, this is a very austere
evening of April 28th, 1870 in Bergamo, in the work, even reserved at times, not at all prone
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, with to exaggeration. In it, Donizetti very simply
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Danilo Prefumo
(Translated by Daniela Pilarz)
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Corrado Rovaris
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1 - Requiem 1 - Requiem
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let
perpetua luceat eis; Te decet hymnus Deus perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn, O
in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem: God, becometh Thee in Sion; and a vow
exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem: hear my
veniet. prayer; all flesh shall come to Thee.
2 - Kyrie 2 - Kyrie
Kyrie eleison Lord, have mercy.
Christe eleison Christ, have mercy.
Kyrie eleison Lord, have mercy.
3 - Requiem 3 - Requiem
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let
perpetua luceat eis; perpetual light shine upon them.
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9 - Ingemisco 9 - Ingemisco
Ingemisco tamquam reus, I sigh, like the guilty one:
culpa rubet vultus meus: my face reddens in guilt:
supplicanti parce, Deus. Spare the supplicating one, O God.
Qui Mariam absolvisti, Thou who absolvedst Mary,
et latronem exaudisti, and heardest the robber,
mihi quoque spem dedisti. gavest hope to me, too.
11 - Confutatis 11 - Confutatis
Confutatis maledictis, Once the cursed have been silenced,
flammis acribus addictis, sentenced to acrid flames:
voca me cum benedictis. Call Thou me with the blessed.
13 - Lacrimosa 13 - Lacrimosa
Lacrimosa dies illa, Tearful [will be] that day,
qua resurget ex favilla on which from the glowing embers will arise
judicandus homo reus. the guilty man who is to be judged.
Huic ergo parce, Deus. Then spare him, O God.
Pie Jesu Domine, Merciful Lord Jesus,
dona eis requiem! grant them rest.
Amen! Amen.
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Soprano
Carmela Remigio
Alto
Chiara Amarù
Tenor
Juan Francisco Gatell
Bass
Andrea Concetti
(tracks 6, 11)
Bass
Omar Montanari
(tracks 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16)
Chiara Amarù (Alto)
CDS7813
Dynamic Srl
Via Mura Chiappe 39, 16136 Genova - Italy DynamicOperaClassic
tel.+39 010.27.22.884 fax +39 010.21.39.37
Dynamic opera
and classical music
dynamic@dynamic.it
#Dynamic40
visit us at www.dynamic.it #Dynamic40