Respighi & Pick-Mangiagalli: Works for Violin & Piano Emy Bernecoli

• 1 I. Moderato 10:09
• 2 II. Andante espressivo 08:56
• 3 III. Passacaglia: Allegro moderato ma energico 08:05
• 4 A Coralline, Op. 12 03:04
• 5 Adagio di G.B. Grazioli sulla IV corda 07:10
• 6 Sirventese 02:34
• 7 I. Allegro Moderato 07:49
• 8 II. Intermezzo: Andante molto sostenuto e semplice 07:12
• 9 III. Finale: Non troppo allegro ma deciso e marcato 07:22
• Total Runtime 01:02:21

Info zu Respighi & Pick-Mangiagalli: Works for Violin & Piano

Respighi’s Sonata in B minor was completed a year after The Fountains of Rome had brought him international renown. A work of considerable dimensions and scope, it combines expressive intensity with techniques grounded in early Italian music. Like Respighi, Pizzetti, Casella, Malipiero and others, Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli belonged to the ‘generation of the 1880s’, which played such a key rôle in the resurgence of Italian instrumental music. His early Sonata, notable for its concise ideas and attractive melodies, and the three short pieces on this album, comprise the complete works for violin and piano of an undeservedly neglected composer.

„Once again nothing but praise is due for the intelligent performance by the Italian duo made up of the violinist Emy Bernecoli and the pianist Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi, who are to be appreciated for their captivating performance, suitably dense in the piano part, lyrical, elegant and with a penetrating tone in the violin part.“ (Stefano Pagliantini, Musica)

„A fine performance of the Respighi, sensitive to its brooding soundworld, is invaluably coupled with Pick-Mangiagalli’s more tautly argued Sonata.“ (Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine)

Emy Bernecoli, violin
Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi, piano

Emy Bernecoli
is an Italian violinist who, in recent years, has become well known in the musical world for her dedication to the Italian musical heritage of the last century.

She made her recording debut with the international label Naxos in 2013 and to date she has made three CDs entirely devoted to three Italian composers of the 20th century: Giorgio Federico Ghedini, Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli and Ottorino Respighi. She recorded the complete works for violin and piano of these composers and in particular those of Ghedini and Pick-Mangiagalli were their world premiere recording. Her CDs were highly acclaimed by the music press at a national (Musica, Amadeus) and international (Gramophone, The Strad, Ritmo, American Record Guide, BBC Music Magazine) level and led to her nomination for the International Classical Music Awards in 2014.

Emy Bernecoli is an expert and admirer of the music of Respighi to the extent that in 2014 she revised and edited two of his unpublished works for the Italian publisher Suvini Zerboni in Milan, which also appear on her CDs (Giga e Allegretto vivace for violin and piano). This will soon be followed by another unpublished work by Respighi: a Fuga for string quartet to be published by Ut Orpheus in Bologna. Her dedication to Italian music also brought to light a masterpiece by Fiorenzo Carpi (Concertino for violin and piano) which she revised and edited for its first printed edition in 2014 (ESZ edizioni).

Her dedication to chamber music has allowed her to build up a vast repertoire over the years that includes all the most significant works for violin and piano. She has also had wide experience with other chamber groups such as the string quartet and quintet in the role of both first and second violin, and has played in piano trios with such renowned artists as Luca Simoncini and Rocco Filippini.

She has been guest of various radio programmes and has broadcast live concerts for the series ‘La stanza della musica’ on RaiRadio3, for the RSI (Radio Svizzera Italiana), Radio Diva, Delta Radio, IMD music and web, and Radio Vaticana. She gained an Academic Diploma in music studies obtaining maximum marks with distinction for her thesis on Paganini’s ‘Le Streghe’. She specialized in early music with Alfonso Fedi in Florence, and for several years performed as a soloist and leader with various Italian Baroque ensembles.

She studied with Pavel Vernikov and Mariana Sirbu, and then in 2006 she gained a diploma at the Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento Musicale ‘R. Romanini’ in Brescia with Domenico Nordio, focusing on the soloist repertoire.

She consolidated her experience in chamber music by studying with members of the Quartetto di Venezia and of the Nuovo Quartetto Italiano, as well as with Istvan Parkanyi, first violin of the celebrated Orlando Quartet, and with Gunter Pichler, first violin of the Alban Berg Quartett.

In 2010 she gained a diploma in chamber music with maximum marks at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Rocco Filippini and at the Accademia Musicale in Florence with Alessandro Specchi.

Her unique style of interpretation stems from her well rounded personality: an artist able to offer a finely balanced blend of tradition and interpretative freshness, romanticism and rhythmic rigor, cantabile and technical energy, Emy Bernecoli remains a performer with her feet set firmly in the past but with her gaze always turned to the future.

She plays a violin of Italian manufacture, a 1966 Giovanni Pallaver, defined by The Strad as splendid.

Booklet für Respighi & Pick-Mangiagalli: Works for Violin & Piano