SpohrChamber Music

for Clarinet, Soprano and Piano

Rocco Parisi clarinetJoanna Klisowska sopranoFrancesco Bissanti piano

Louis Spohr 1784-1859Chamber Music for Clarinet, Soprano and Piano

1. Andante mit Variationen Op.34 8’58

Sechs Deutsche Lieder Op.1032. Sei still mein Herz 4’493. Zwiegesang 2’054. Sehnsucht 3’145. Wiegenlied 2’436. Das heimliche Leid 4’037. Wach auf 2’49

8. Theme & variations on a theme from the Opera “Alruna” 7’25

Potpourri Op.809. Larghetto 2’4510. Allegro (allegretto) 7’23

Recording: 1-13 December 2018, BartokStudio, Bernareggio, ItalyProducer and sound engineer: Raffaele Cacciola Technical assistant: Gianluca LaponteEditing and mastering: BartokStudioCover: Portrait of the composer Louis Spohr (1824), by Johann August Nahl the Younger (1752-1825)p & © 2020 Brilliant Classics

Rocco Parisi clarinetJoanna Klisowska sopranoFrancesco Bissanti piano

Louis (Ludwig) Spohr (Braunschweig 1784 – Kassel 1859) was a German composer, violinist and conductor. He began studying the violin at the age of 5, and by the time he was twenty was involved in a concert tour of German cities, where he met with considerable acclaim as both a virtuoso player and as a composer. In Berlin, he actually played with the then thirteen-year-old Meyerbeer, who was already a fine pianist.

Renowned as a concert performer, his fame as a conductor also began to spread, especially in the wake of the first music festival organized in 1809 at Frankenhausen in Germany. From 1812 to 1815 he conducted the orchestra of the Theater an der Wien, and it was in Vienna that he also met Beethoven. By 1820 he was also conducting in London, where he was the first to introduce the use of the baton. In Dresden he came into contact with Weber, who supported his candidacy for the position of chapel master at the Kassel court. He continued to travel throughout Germany and to various English cities, playing in concerts with the pianist Marianne Pfeiffer, whom he married in 1836, and conducting others. In England, along with Mendelssohn he was particularly appreciated for his oratorios. When he began to suffer from paralysis of the left arm, however, he had to give up his career as a soloist.

Spohr became one of the foremost protagonists of German romantic opera, although the genre really only accounted for a minor part of his overall oeuvre. A great devotee of Mozart, he was certainly influenced by Weber, who was closer to him in time, but he also invested opera with much that was original in form and approach. Of his ten operas, there are two that stand out in particular: Faust, of 1813, and Jessonda written in 1823.

A violinist of the first order, Spohr was considered second only to his friend Paganini. His brilliant virtuoso style and great skill in phrasing were in time to constitute a German school of violin playing, to which he directly contributed with the publication of his manual Violinschule of 1832. Apart from the operas, he also wrote oratorios, 9 symphonies (including Die Weihe der Töne), concertos and chamber music, of which the famous Nonetto Op.31 is delightful case in point.

The composition of the Sechs deutsche Lieder Op.103 relates to the friendship and creative partnership between Louis Spohr and Johann Simon Hermstedt, court musician to the Schwarzburg-Soundershausen principality and one of the most acclaimed clarinettists of the period. Spohr had already written the four Concertos for clarinet and orchestra for Hermstedt, through whom Princess Sondershausen commissioned him to compose the Lieder for soprano with clarinet and piano accompaniment. As was common at the time, in this splendid Lieder cycle, far from accompanying the voice, the instruments essentially create a tapestry of sound that variously introduces, describes, contradicts and suggests the different moods evoked by the words. In this sense they not only envelop the verse in melody, but also take on a poetic role of their own. The flamboyant tone of songs 1, 3 and 5 allows for dramatic emphasis, which is softened in n. 4 with a lullaby consisting of a three-note vocal line. Lieder 2 and 6, which are rooted in folk music, were also played in concerts by Mendelssohn.

The Andante with Variations Op.34 for clarinet and string quartet derive from the Nocturne Op.34 for wind in its entirety. This latter composition quickly gained popularity, giving rise to numerous transcriptions, including the arrangement for clarinet and piano made by Spohr himself.

The Duke of Sondershausen also commissioned Spohr to write an opera in three acts, Alruna, die Eulenkönigin, which was never staged. It did, however, give rise to the theme for a composition for clarinet and piano, to which variations were duly added.

The Potpourri Op.80 was written for Hermstedt for the Frankenhausen Festival of 1811. Here Spohr added themes from the opera by Peter von Winter, Das unterbrochene Opferfest, which had become quite popular following the premiere in Vienna in 1796. The simple lyricism of the subject of the Larghetto is followed by virtuoso passages in the clarinet, which also plays the melody of the Allegro, giving rise to some highly virtuosic variations in the course of the development.© Francesco Bissanti and Rocco ParisiTranslation by Kate Singleton

Joanna Klisowska – Coloratura sopranoThe artist was born in Wrocław, Poland, where she started her music education.The sopranist performed at many various festivals, inter alia, Lucerne Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Festival d’Ambronay, Rheingau Musik Festival, Vocal am Rhein, Festival Eclat, Wratislavia Cantans, Maj z Muzyka Dawna, Settimane Barocche, Musica e Poesia di San Maurizio, Forum Musicum, Festival Barocco Roma, Settimane Barocche, Festival Internazionale di Organo e Musica da Camera, Festival di Brežice, Festival Internazionale di Danza e di Musica Antica, Musica Elettronica Nuova. Joanna Klisowska performs throughout Europe as well as conducts pedagogical activities and master classes.

Among her recorded albums one should mention Oratorium Musicum “Der Mensch ein Gottesmörder” by L. Mozart with Claudio Astronio and Bolzano Baroque Ensemble for Amadeus (2007), Bonporti motets for the ORF (Alte Musik) with the Ricreation d’Arcadia Ensemble, Responsoria by J.D. Zelenka with Collegium 1704 (Akccent 2012), Purcelel’s sacred compositions for soprano and bass with Peter Kooij - Stradivarius (2012), M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco – The Divan of Moses Ibn-Ezra with Giulio Tampalini - Brilliant Classics (2017), Music for cello and piano. Two Songs with Andrea Noferini and Roberto Plano, Brilliant Classics (2018) and Vertigo – pieces by Marco Nodari – Da Vinci Edition (2019).

Pho

to b

y M

.Sie

rgie

jew

icz

Rocco Parisi was born in San Pietro a Maida (CZ), Italy. He studied in Holland, where he took a first-class diploma Getuigschrift diploma in bass clarinet. In Italy he then obtained his Masters “cum laude” in clarinet at the Ghedini Conservatoire in Cuneo.

Acclaimed for his brilliant interpretations of contemporary music and for the new techniques he has introduced for the bass clarinet, Parisi has had many original compositions dedicated to him.

He gave the world premiere of Sequenza IX c for bass clarinet and the Italian premiere of Chemins II c for bass clarinet and orchestra, both by Luciano Berio, as well as Ennio Morricone’s Come un’onda. He has held concerts at the ICA convention in New Orleans, Stockholm, Salt Lake City, Austin, Assisi and Baton Rouge. Parisi has recorded for labels such as Taukay, Stradivarius, DDT, Nuova Era, AOC Classic – Edizioni Leonardi, Concerto Music-Media and Amadeus.

Rocco Parisi is a D’Addario Performing Artist and plays exclusively on Reserve.He is sponsored by: Silverstein Ligature, Fratelli Patricola clarinets and Lomax

mouthpieces.

Francesco Bissanti was born in the southern Italian region of Apulia on June 30, 1979. He began his musical studies at the age of 7, his growing passion for playing piano nurtured by his paternal grandfather, Giuseppe, a well-known tuner and organ player. Under the guidance of M. G. Spagnoli and M. F. Monopoli, he graduated with honours ‘Cum Laude’ at the Piccinni Conservatoire in Bari. He also studied under M. L. Passaglia, a former student of Benedetti Michelangeli, obtaining a further Diploma of Excellence at the Umbra Academy of Perugia. Fundamental in his development as a musician was also his encounter with M. V. Balzani, and the intense journey of technical training that followed. In 2006, he obtained a first-class Diploma in Chamber Music at the Braga Institute of Advanced Music in Teramo.

Francesco has won numerous awards in both national and international piano competitions. He performs as soloist in famous theatres throughout Italy and takes part in concert seasons and piano festivals such as Oltenia Philharmonic Orchestra in Craiova (Romania), the Lario Symphony Orchestra in Cantù (Italy) and the Mihail Jora Philharmonic of Bacau (Romania).

As a composer he has published the solo piano works Lontananza and Disordine, Via Crucis for pianoforte, 2 cellos and soprano (Ed. Musical Lamuraglia), Sguardi Dissonanti for pianoforte and marimba (Ed. Musical Stardust).

In 2013 he formed a duo with marimba percussionist A. La Manna and in April 2016 they recorded the album Rhapsody featuring music by Gershwin, Satie, Copland, Milhaud and Rachmaninov, released by the Movimento Classical label. In March 2019, with the same line-up, he recorded an album download for the music Magazine “Amadeus”, which also devoted a compelling interview to this unusual duo.

In addition to his busy concert schedule, Francesco also teaches in Middle Schools specializing in music.

Pho

to b

y G

iorg

io C

arus

o

Pho

to b

y Si

mon

e L

oren

zi