Listen & tracks

8 works · 67:56

1 San Giusto Ignazio Bitelli 7:02
I Puritani - Grande Fantasie for Mandolin OrchestraVincenzo Bellini 2 movements12:51
1. 2 Vivo, Sostenuto, Giusto 5:08
2. 3 Largo, vivo, stringendo sempre 7:43
4 But she is still there Michelle Nelson (from Amorevolezza Suite for Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra) 5:02
Four 17th and 18th Century Italian AriasGiuseppe Giordani 4 movements12:40
1. 5 Caro mio ben 2:51
2. 6 Se tu m’ami, se sospiri 3:36
3. 7 Nina 3:05
4. 8 Tu lo sai 3:08
9 Fantasy on Verdi’s Opera “La Traviata” Giuseppe Verdi Andante, Tempo di Valse, Andante 7:07
Fantasy on Verdi's Opera "La Traviata"Giuseppe Verdi 2 movements8:49
1. 10 Allegro risoluto, Allegro moderato 2:17
2. 11 Lento, Andantino, Moderato, Risoluto 6:32
12 Serenade Enrico Toselli 4:31
Selection of Popular Italian SongsTeodoro Cottrau 5 movements9:54
1. 13 Santa Lucia 1:40
2. 14 Mari Mari 1:56
3. 15 Torna a Sorrento 1:52
4. 16 Funiculi Funicula 2:15
5. 17 Arrivederci Roma 2:11

Formed in 1967 and committed to Neapolitan-style instruments, the orchestra here pairs early-twentieth-century ensemble writing with opera potpourris and song.

Bitelli’s lively San Giusto sits beside Maciocchi’s Grande Fantasie on Bellini’s I Puritani. Michelle Nelson contributes But she is still there from her Galileo-inspired Amorevolezza suite and arranges four 17th- and 18th-century arias for Jo Zablud. Karl Thomas’s fantasy on Verdi’s La Traviata gives Kurt Jensen a mandolin spotlight; Abram Iourgaev takes the famous Toselli Serenade on mandocello. A medley of Santa Lucia, Mari Mari, Torna a Sorrento, Funiculì Funiculà and Arrivederci Roma, arranged by Jensen, ends the disc.

Slava Iourgaev conducts. The recording was made at Move in Eaglemont in September 2004.

Artists

Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra

ensemble

The Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra was formed in 1967 by Peter Evans and Josef Ruecker to develop and maintain a mandolin orchestra in Melbourne. Besides regular performance it organises summer schools and workshops, trains new players, hosts visiting groups and commissions new music.

Kurt Jensen

composer

Kurt Jensen is a Danish mandolin soloist who performed professionally from the age of twelve. In Australia he featured as soloist with the Melbourne Musicians, Chamber Strings of Melbourne, Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra and Guitar Ensemble.

Michelle Nelson

composer

Michelle Nelson is a composer, guitarist and creative educator committed to developing instrumental works that are contemporary in voice yet draw on traditional composition practice.

Giuseppe Torelli

composer

Giuseppe Torelli's music for trumpet and strings sits at the heart of the middle Baroque concerto. His sonatas and concertos give the natural trumpet bright, ceremonial lines over lively string writing.

Giuseppe Verdi

composer

Giuseppe Verdi wrote the operas that still define the Italian stage: Rigoletto, La traviata, Aida, Otello. His music turns private passion and public fate into melody audiences know by heart and never tire of hearing.

Vincenzo Bellini

composer

Bellini’s operas and songs are built on long, graceful bel canto melodies that balance florid embellishment with a deceptively simple lyric line. His writing still supplies Italianate colour for recital and instrumental programmes alike.

Ignazio Bitelli

composer

Eduardo di Capua

composer

Very little is known about Eduardo Di Capua (1864-1917) except that he was a composer of Neapolitan songs. His most famous work is O Sole Mio which was written for a lover and sold to a publisher for just a few lira!