Here at long last, is a CD with music for accordion by Ettore Pozzoli! An outstanding musician, known mainly for his teaching but should also be remembered as a creative and communicative composer. Pozzoli, be it for anagrafical reasons and for his stylistic orientation, was the italian composer who probably, more than any other, linked the accordion to romanticism. The credit for giving us all of Pozzoli’s accordion works goes to Salvatore Crisafulli, teacher at the Messina conservatory. The only Pozzoli work missing is Canti popolari d’altri tempi, a folk fantasy based on popular Italian tales. The selection opens with the evocative Valzer da concerto, followed by the composers’ most famous work Tema e variazioni, which in its time won a composition competition sponsored by the publishers Ricordi. The third track in contrast, is a rarely heard piece: the profound and demanding Fantasia in la minore, followed by Alba d’Aprile, a sort of “melodic study”. The repetoire from Pozzoli concludes with the engaging Danza fantastica. The CD finishes with pieces from two post-romantic composers from the USA: Paul Creston and John Gart. From the first composer we have Prelude and Dance, which in common with the music of Pozzoli has, on the one hand singable melodies and on the other, the brilliance of the virtuosistic parts (with a driving rhythm on the part of Creston). Finally from Gart, almost like an encore at the end of a recital, we can listen to the famous Scherzo, which embodies and summarises not only the programme of the CD but also the interpretative art of Crisafulli: that is to say, the masterful, irreprehensible technique that helps to serve an innate but also knowledgeable musicality that has matured during years of study, research and valued artistic activity. Reviewed by Alessandro Mugnoz |
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