Ernesto CAVALLINI

Ernesto
CAVALLINI
Capriccios for Clarinet
Three Duos for Clarinets
Nicola Bulfone • Marco Giani
Ernesto Cavallini (1807–1874)
30 Capriccios for Clarinet • Three Duos for Clarinets
CD 1
30 Capriccios for Clarinet: Nos. 1–13
33:20
1 No. 1 in A minor, Op. 2, No. 2: Allegro mosso
1:54
2 No. 2 in C major, Op. 2, No. 5: Andante
2:26
3 No. 3 in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3: Agitato
1:27
4 No. 4 in B minor, Op. 4, No. 2: Andante
2:23
5 No. 5 in G minor, Op. 5, No. 2: Allegro
2:11
6 No. 6 in D major, Op. 4, No. 5: Allegro assai
1:58
7 No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 2, No. 1: Andante mosso 2:04
8 No. 8 in F major, Op. 1, No. 1: Allegro moderato
1:24
9 No. 9 in C major, Op. 5, No. 1: Allegro risoluto
5:45
0 No. 10 in A minor, Op. 3, No. 2: Allegro assai
2:01
! No. 11 in F major, Op. 3, No. 1: Moderato
3:32
@ No. 12 in D minor, Op. 1, No. 5: Allegro
1:50
# No. 13 in G major, Op. 3, No. 3: Adagio sostenuto 4:00
) II. Tempo di romanza
¡ III. Allegro
2:31
5:12
CD 2
30 Capriccios for Clarinet: Nos. 14–30
14:15
7:23
2:36
4:12
14:36
7:38
6:57
16:03
8:19
77:08
1 No. 14 in E minor, Op. 3, No. 4: Andante sostenuto 5:09
2 No. 15 in C major, Op. 4, No. 1: Moderato
3:37
3 No. 16 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3: Adagio – Allegro –
Presto
3:32
4 No. 17 in A minor, Op. 3, No. 5: Maestoso
4:55
5 No. 18 in E Major-minor, Op. 4, No. 4: Andantino –
Allegro mosso
3:56
6 No. 19 in F major, Op. 4, No. 6: Tema e variazioni:
Maestoso
7:48
7 No. 20 in D major, Op. 5, No. 5: Andante sostenuto 3:32
8 No. 21 in B minor, Op. 5, No. 4: Andante
3:25
9 No. 22 in G major, Op. 2, No. 6: Tema e variazione:
Andante
5:17
0 No. 23 in E minor, Op. 2, No. 4: Moderato
6:08
! No. 24 in C major, Op. 1, No. 6: Moderato
2:51
@ No. 25 in B flat major, Op. 1, No. 4: Adagio
3:16
# No. 26 in B flat major, Op. 3, No. 6: Allegretto
3:23
$ No. 27 in G major, Op. 5, No. 3: Adagio
5:03
% No. 28 in G major, Op. 1, No. 2: Allegro moderato 4:10
^ No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 4, No. 3: Adagio sostenuto 4:44
& No. 30 in F major, Op. 5, No. 6: Allegro moderato 5:44
Ernesto Cavallini was born in Milan on 30th August 1807. At
the age of nine he won a place at the Milan Conservatory,
where he studied with Benedetto Carulli. He graduated in
September 1824, and was appointed second clarinet
alongside his former teacher at Milanʼs Teatro Re where, in
1827, he also appeared several times as a soloist. That
same year, he was highly praised for a performance of his
Concerto in E flat major in one of the foyers of the Teatro alla
Scala. He then took up a post at La Fenice in Venice and
towards the end of the decade performed at La Scala
several times as both soloist and orchestral musician.
Having served for a while as first clarinet of the band of
Piedmontʼs Grenadier Guards, he was appointed first
clarinet of the La Scala orchestra (1831). Over the next two
years, he gave many performances around Italy, alongside
his violinist brother Eugenio, and flautist Giuseppe Rabboni.
In 1839 he appeared to great acclaim in Venice, Trieste,
Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Two years later he played
in Milan with the virtuoso cellist Alfredo Piatti and, in Novara,
gave a much-praised performance of his Variations on a
theme of Mercadante, under the baton of Mercadante
himself. Soon afterwards he played in Paris, where he was
made a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
In the wake of his Parisian success, Cavallini travelled to
London and performed for the cityʼs Philharmonic Society.
In 1844 he undertook a new concert tour, visiting Geneva,
Paris and London. In Brussels he gave a private concert at
the home of the composer Fétis, along with Piatti and other
virtuoso colleagues. A year later he returned to London,
giving a performance at the Theatre Royal which included a
Three Duos for Clarinets
No. 1 in C major
$ I. Moderato
% II. Adagio sostenuto
^ III. Rondo: Allegretto
No. 2 in A minor
& I. Allegro moderato
* II. Tema (Andante sostenuto) e Variazioni
No. 3 in B flat major
( I. Allegro moderato
rendering of his Canto greco variato with the eminent violinist
Vieuxtemps; that same year, back in Brussels, he directed
an Italian opera company in a number of productions.
In 1846 he returned to La Scala for a concert promoted
by publishers Ricordi to celebrate the inauguration of a bust
of Rossini at which he performed a work he had written
especially for the occasion, the Capriccio ʻFiori rossinianiʼ.
Cavallini left Italy in 1851 on a long tour that took him to
Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland and,
finally, Russia. He reached St Petersburg in 1854, where the
Tsar appointed him soloist of the newly founded Imperial
Theatre, a position which, among other things, gave him the
opportunity to perform with the composer Glinka in Berlin. In
June 1854 he also began teaching clarinet at the St
Petersburg Conservatory.
In 1862 Cavallini took part in the première of Verdiʼs La
forza del destino, whose famous clarinet solo at the opening
of Act Three had been written expressly for him by the great
Italian composer. Three years later he returned to Milan to
give some performances and in 1869, having been granted
a pension by the Tsar, decided to return to Italy on a
permanent basis. That same year, in Milan, he published a
series of works he had written in Russia, including a number
of vocal pieces with piano accompaniment (he had taught
singing as well as clarinet while in St Petersburg). He
continued his solo career thereafter in Milan, Florence and
Naples and, in late 1871, taught clarinet for a brief period at
the Milan Conservatory. Cavallini gave his final public
concert at the Teatro Carcano in Milan in 1872. He died
following a stroke on 7th January 1874.
Cavalliniʼs great technical and interpretative gifts are
described in many press articles and reviews of the day. He
was particularly praised for the beauty of his sound, and for
his dazzling performances. As regards his personal style, we
know that his staccato was notable for its soft tone and that
he was a master of circular breathing. The music journals
often reported the popularity of his concerts: in 1842 the
Gazzetta Musicale di Milano declared: ʻCavallini is the
Paganini of the clarinetʼ. The Revue de Paris dubbed him
ʻthe best clarinettist in the universeʼ, while for LʼItalia
musicale, Cavallini was the ʻLiszt of the clarinetʼ.
It is worth noting that throughout almost his entire career,
Cavallini played a six-key boxwood clarinet made in Milan in
the early 1800s, and was sometimes criticised for the less
than precise intonation of this obsolete instrument. In 1860,
the Tsar decided that the imperial orchestras should adopt
the French clarinet, and it was only at this point that Cavallini
decided to order a new twelve-key instrument from the
Milanese instrument-maker Piana.
Thirty Capriccios for Clarinet
Cavalliniʼs five collections of Capriccios, Opp. 1-5, are
unquestionably his most significant didactic works, and are
still used in music schools around the world today. They
cover everything from Paganini-esque virtuosity to operastyle cantabile writing, and push the performer to the limits of
what was technically possible in the first half of the
nineteenth century. The five collections were published at
various different points during that period. Interestingly, the
composer was to reuse many of his capriccio themes in
other studies and concert pieces over the years.
The first six Capriccios, Op. 1, dedicated to his pupil
Cristoforo Ballabio, were issued in Milan by the publishers
Bertuzzi in 1827, when Cavallini was still studying at the
Milan Conservatory. The second collection, Op. 2, was
published ten years later, also in Milan, but by the Lucca
company, and was dedicated to another of his pupils,
Antonio Urio. Opp. 3, 4 and 5 were all issued by Ricordi in
1840, dedicated to Benedetto Carulli, Cavalliniʼs brother
Pompeo, and Prospero Barigozzi respectively. Decades
later, in 1904, Ricordi published the full set of thirty capriccios
in a single volume for the first time. Italian clarinettist Alamiro
Giampieriʼs later edition was also issued by Ricordi: in it the
capriccios are presented in an entirely different sequence,
apparently in order of increasing difficulty. Giampieri corrected a number of incongruities and typographical errors, as
well as altering many of the dynamic and accent markings.
His remains the best-known edition; Italian conservatories still set five of Cavalliniʼs capriccios as mandatory exam
pieces: Nos. 3, 5, 14, 23 and 29 (Giampieriʼs numbering).
This recording, however, is primarily based on the 1904
Ricordi edition. I perform Capriccio No. 2 (Op. 2, No. 5), for
example, with gruppetto, and Andante, as in the original
version, rather than following Giampieriʼs Allegro brillante
marking; similarly in No. 14 (Op. 3, No. 4) I go by the
articulation marks printed in the 1904 edition.
Three Duos for Clarinets
The three duets, of which this is the world première recording,
were dedicated to Cavalliniʼs brother Pompeo, ʻBandmaster
Photo: Pierfranco Argentiero
Nicola Bulfone
Photo: Sergio Giani
of His Britannic Majestyʼs 18th Regimentʼ, and published by
Lucca in 1836. Cavallini composed another set of three
duets, dedicated to Edward Berti, issued by Ricordi in
1845/46 and a set of Six Grand Duets dedicated to composer
Saverio Mercadante and published by Ricordi in 1849.
All of these works were written for teaching purposes,
and all are written in sonata form, rather different from the
Marco Giani
then fashionable operatic style, and are comparable to some
of Alessandro Rollaʼs stylised compositions. That said, the
melodies, many of which recur, are clearly inspired by Italian
bel canto vocal music.
Nicola Bulfone
English translation by Susannah Howe
Nicola Bulfone was born in Hässleholm (Sweden) in 1963. He studied clarinet at the
Udine Conservatory and continued his music studies at the Stuttgart Hochschule für
Musik under Ulf Rodenhäuser, obtaining an Advanced Diploma. Among other awards,
he won first prize at the International Music Competition in Stresa. He also attended
master-classes held by Karl Leister, Antony Pay and Giuseppe Garbarino. He has
played in the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and other leading Italian
orchestras, and has participated in various music festivals and concert seasons with
distinguished chamber music ensembles. As a soloist he has appeared with the
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, the
Orquestra do Norte (Portugal), the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bjalistok
Philharmonia (Poland), the Rijeka Chamber Orchestra, the Vogtland Philharmonie,
the Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra (Russia), and the Minsk Orchestra. He has
recorded for SWR, RAI, ORF, BR, and many renowned composers have written solo
pieces for him. He has taught in international master-classes in Italy, the Czech
Republic, Latvia, Russia and China, and has been a member of the jury at the
Jeunesses Musicales International Clarinet Competition in Belgrade and at the
Saverio Mercadante International Clarinet Competition. He is clarinet professor at
the Udine Conservatory and plays Herbert Wurlitzer Reform Boehm Clarinets.
Marco Giani was awarded his clarinet diploma with top marks and honours in Nicola
Bulfoneʼs class, and continued his studies with Luigi Magistrelli at the Giuseppe
Verdi Conservatory in Milan, passing with full marks and summa cum laude. He also
studied in summer courses with Fabrizio Meloni, Ulf Rodenhäuser, Johannes Peitz
and at the 2009 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestral Academy in 2009. He
made his name winning prizes in twelve competitions in Italy and was semifinalist
at the prestigious 2012 ARD International Music Competition in Munich and at the
2009 Aeolus International Music Competition in Düsseldorf. He has been a member
of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra,
Verbier Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica of the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and
the Orchestra Cherubini of Piacenza and Ravenna, performing with distinguished
conductors. Since 2010 he has worked as solo clarinet with I Pomeriggi Musicali
Orchestra in Milan. Marco Giani has played in well known concert halls in Europe
and North America, and has collaborated with distinguished colleagues in chamber
music. He plays Herbert Wurlitzer Reform Boehm Clarinets.
Ernesto Cavallini (1807–1874)
30 Capricci per clarinetto • Tre Duetti per clarinetti
Ernesto Cavallini nacque a Milano il 30 Agosto 1807. Allʼetà
di nove anni, fu ammesso al Conservatorio di Milano nella
classe di Benedetto Carulli. Il 30 Settembre 1824 si
diplomò completando i propri studi al Conservatorio di
musica milanese. Fu poi secondo clarinetto assieme al suo
maestro al Teatro Re di Milano, dove, nel 1827, si esibì più
volte come solista. Nello stesso anno fu molto apprezzato
per lʼesecuzione del suo Concerto in mi maggiore per
clarinetto e orchestra al Ridotto del Teatro alla Scala. Nel
1828 lavorò al Teatro La Fenice di Venezia e, durante
lʼanno successivo, suonò più volte a Milano come solista ed
in varie formazioni orchestrali.
Successivamente fu primo clarinetto nella banda della
Brigata dei Granatieri Guardie del Governo piemontese.
Nel 1831 venne nominato primo clarinetto nellʼOrchestra
del Teatro alla Scala di Milano. Durante i due anni
successivi, assieme al fratello violinista Eugenio e il
flautista Giuseppe Rabboni, suonò in diverse città italiane.
Nel 1839 si esibì con successo a Venezia, Trieste, Vienna,
Bratislava e Budapest. Nel 1841 suonò a Milano assieme
al grande virtuoso del violoncello Alfredo Piatti e, a Novara,
fu apprezzato per lʼinterpretazione delle sue Variazioni su
un tema di Mercadante per clarinetto assieme a Saverio
Mercadante che in quellʼoccasione diresse personalmente
lʼorchestra. Suonò poi a Parigi dove fu eletto membro
dellʼAcadémie des Beaux Arts.
Cavallini, dopo i successi parigini, viaggiò alla volta di
Londra dove si esibì per la Philharmonic Society. Nel 1844
intraprese una nuova tournée di concerti suonando a
Ginevra, Parigi e Londra. A Bruxelles tenne un concerto
privato a casa del famoso compositore Fétis, assieme a
Piatti e altri virtuosi. Nellʼanno seguente si produsse come
solista nel teatro reale di Londra dove, con il celeberrimo
violinista Vieuxtemps, suonò il suo Canto greco variato;
nello stesso anno a Bruxelles diresse una Compagnia
operistica italiana in varie produzioni.
Nel 1846 si esibì al Teatro alla Scala in un concerto
promosso dallʼEditore Ricordi per celebrare lʼinaugurazione
di un busto di Gioachino Rossini dove suonò il celebre
Capriccio “Fiori rossiniani”, da lui composto per lʼoccasione.
Nel 1851 Cavallini partì per una lunga tournée che
attraverso Spagna, Francia, Belgio, Olanda, Germania e
Polonia lo portò in Russia dove, giunto nel 1854 a San
Pietroburgo, venne nominato solista del neo-fondato Teatro
Imperiale dallo Zar stesso. Ebbe quindi modo di suonare
assieme al celebre compositore russo Mikhail Glinka col
quale si esibì a Berlino. Dal Giugno del 1854 accettò
lʼimpiego come docente di clarinetto presso il
Conservatorio di musica di San Pietroburgo.
Nel 1862 suonò alla prima rappresentazione dellʼopera
La forza del destino di Giuseppe Verdi. Il famoso lungo
assolo per clarinetto allʼinizio del terzo atto di questʼopera
fu composto dal grande compositore italiano espressamente per il suo amico clarinettista. Nel 1865 Cavallini
tornò a Milano per esibirsi come solista e nel 1869, ottenuta
la pensione dallo zar, decise di ristabilirsi in Italia. Alla fine
dellʼanno pubblicò a Milano una serie di composizioni che
aveva scritto in Russia tra le quali figurano anche pezzi
vocali con accompagnamento di pianoforte, Cavallini in
Russia aveva infatti anche insegnato canto. Negli anni
successivi proseguì la sua carriera solistica suonando a
Milano, Firenze e Napoli. Alla fine del 1871 ricevette per un
breve tempo un incarico come supplente di clarinetto al
Conservatorio di Milano. Nel 1872 tenne il suo ultimo
concerto pubblico al Teatro Carcano di Milano. Morì a
causa di un ictus il 7 gennaio 1874.
Numerosi articoli e recensioni del tempo descrivono le
grandi doti tecniche e musicali di Ernesto Cavallini. Veniva
particolarmente apprezzato per la bellezza del suo suono
e per le sue brillanti esecuzioni e, in merito al suo personale
stile, sappiamo che il suo staccato era particolarmente
dolce e che era in grado di eseguire la respirazione
circolare. I giornali musicali riportarono spesso i successi
che i suoi concerti riscuotevano. Nel 1842 la Gazzetta
Musicale di Milano scrive: “Cavallini è il Paganini del
Clarinetto” e la Revue de Paris lo definì “primo clarinetto
dellʼUniverso”. Nel giornale LʼItalia Musicale Cavallini era
considerato il “Liszt del clarinetto”.
È interessante anche sapere che Cavallini per quasi la
sua intera carriera musicale suonò un vecchio clarinetto in
bosso a sei chiavi prodotto a Milano agli inizi del
Novecento. Talvolta fu criticato per lʼintonazione imprecisa
di questo strumento obsoleto. Nel 1860 lo Zar decise di fare
adottare lʼintonazione francese alle Orchestre Imperiali e
solo allora Cavallini si risolse ad ordinare alla ditta milanese
Piana un nuovo strumento a 12 chiavi nella nuova
intonazione più bassa.
30 Capricci per clarinetto
Le cinque raccolte di Capricci Opp. 1-5, rappresentano
senzʼombra di dubbio la sua opera didattica più importante
e tuttʼora i Conservatori e le Accademie musicali di tutto il
mondo ne prevedono lʼimpiego nei loro programmi di
studio. Queste opere coprono, condensandole assieme
tutte le possibilità tecniche del clarinetto della prima metà
dellʼOttocento, dal virtuosismo “alla Paganini” allo stile
cantabile operistico. A non tutti però è noto che in realtà
furono pubblicati in diversi periodi.
I primi Sei capricci Op. 1¸ dedicati al suo allievo
Cristoforo Ballabio furono pubblicati a Milano dallʼEditore
Bertuzzi nel 1827; a quel tempo Cavallini era ancora
studente del Conservatorio di Milano. LʼOp. 2 fu pubblicata
solo nel 1837 dallʼEditore Lucca a Milano e dedicata al suo
allievo Antonio Urio. Gli ultimi tre gruppi di capricci, Op. 3
dedicati a Benedetto Carulli, Op. 4 dedicati al fratello M.
Pompeo Cavallini e Op. 5 “a Prospero Barigozzi”, furono
pubblicati da Ricordi nel 1840. Nel 1904 lʼeditore Ricordi
pubblicò i 30 Capricci per clarinetto solo tutti uniti assieme
per la prima volta. Successivamente i 30 capricci furono
editi nuovamente da Ricordi nella revisione dal clarinettista
italiano Alamiro Giampieri. In questa versione i capricci
appaiono in una sequenza completamente diversa
seguendo apparentemente un ordine di crescente
difficoltà. Alcune incongruenze ed errori di stampa furono
corretti e Giampieri aggiunse numerosi cambiamenti nella
dinamica e nellʼagogica.
Questa è attualmente la versione più conosciuta. Negli
esami dei Conservatori di musica italiani cinque sono i
Capricci richiesti come studi dʼobbligo: i numeri 3, 5, 14, 23
e 29 (numerazione di Giampieri). È interessante anche
notare che molti temi tratti dai capricci furono impiegati in
numerose altre composizioni e pezzi da concerto da
Cavallini stesso.
La presente registrazione si basa prevalentemente
sullʼedizione Ricordi del 1904. Il capriccio n. 2 (Op. 2, n. 5)
ad esempio viene da me eseguito con il gruppetto e nel
tempo Andante come previsto dalla versione originale,
anziché nel tempo di Allegro brillante di Giampieri, mentre
nel Capriccio n. 14 ( Op. 3, n. 4 ) sono riprodotte le articolazioni stampate nellʼedizione del 1904.
Trois Duos
I tre duetti, registrati per la prima volta su questo CD, furono
dedicati al fratello Pompeo Cavallini, “Musicien en chef du
18me Regiment de S. M. Britannique” e pubblicati a Milano
dallʼeditore Lucca nel 1836. Cavallini compose anche altri
Trois Duos, dedicati a Edward Berti, pubblicati da Ricordi
negli anni 1845/46 ed i Sei gran duetti dedicati a Saverio
Mercadante e pubblicati da Ricordi nel 1849.
Tutte queste composizioni che si possono considerare
opere didattiche, furono scritte in Forma Sonata, piuttosto
distanti dallo stile operistico in voga, e possono essere
paragonate a talune composizioni manierate di Alessandro
Rolla. Le melodie spesso ricorrenti in queste opere sono
comunque ispirate fortemente dal “bel canto” italiano.
Nicola Bulfone
Renowned throughout Europe, Ernesto Cavallini became known as ‘the Paganini of the
clarinet’ for his beautiful tone and dazzling performances. The Capriccios are unquestionably his most significant didactic works and are still used as mandatory exam
pieces at Italian conservatoires. They push the performer to the technical limits of the time,
ranging from Paganini-esque virtuosity to operatic cantabile writing. Recorded here for the
first time, the Three Duos were also composed for teaching purposes, placing animated
musical conversations and elegant Italian bel canto vocal style into classical sonata form.
Ernesto
CAVALLINI
(1807–1874)
CD1 (78:19)
1–# 30 Capriccios for Clarinet: Nos. 1–13
Three Duos for Clarinets*
$–^ No. 1 in C major
&–* No. 2 in A minor
(–¡ No. 3 in B flat major
33:20
44:59
14:15
14:36
16:03
CD2 (77:08)
1–& 30 Capriccios for Clarinet: Nos. 14–30 77:08
A detailed track list will be found in the booklet
* WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING
Nicola Bulfone, Clarinet
Marco Giani, Clarinet *
Recorded at the Auditorium Bratuz, Gorizia, Italy, August 2005 (Capriccios) and
at Fraferu’s Studio, Tricesimo, Italy, October 2012 (Duos)
Producer: Nicola Bulfone • Engineers: Franco Policardi (Capriccios) & Franco Feruglio (Duos)
Booklet notes: Nicola Bulfone • Publishers: Edizioni Ricordi (Capriccios); Edizioni Lucca (Duos)
Cover photo © Stuart Blyth / Dreamstime.com