LUCA LOMBARDI Music for solo flute Roberto Fabbriciani Luca Lombardi (*1945) 1 …(da Infra) (1997) 8 Einstein – Dialog (2005) for alto flute 04:33 for flute and cello 07:50 2 … (da Lucrezio) (1998) 9 Nel vento, con Ariel (2004) for bass flute 04:01 for solo flute 06:35 3 Ro’ (1999) 10 Echo de Syrinx (2009) for flute (piccolo, c flute, for flute 07:20 alto and bass flute) 05:33 11 O Haupt voll Blut und 4 Bagattella (1983) Wunden (2010) for solo flute 05:07 for flute 03:10 5 Schattenspiel (1984) for bass flute 03:56 6 3 piccoli pezzi (1965) 1 – 11 Roberto Fabbriciani flute for solo flute 01:44 8 Leonard Elschenbroich cello 7 4 piccoli pezzi (1977) for solo flute 06:30 TT 56:20 Recording venue: Studio Neri di Montevarchi, Arezzo, Italy Recording dates: 2008, 2010 Producer: Roberto Fabbriciani Final CD mastering: Christoph Amann Graphic Design: Alexander Kremmers (paladino media), cover based on artwork by Enrique Fuentes (“Das Narrenwort”, 2011) 2 Music for Flute by A great variety of musical styles, tech- Luca Lombardi niques, and forms inform Lombardi’s works. He composes for many instruments, including the human voice. Yet, a cursory glance at the Catalogo delle opere di Luca Lombardi (edited by Gabriele Becheri in 2005 and updated to 2017 in the online en- cyclopedia “Komponisten der Gegenwart”) reveals that Lombardi devoted a consider- able amount of his creativity to composing Luca Lombardi (born 1945 in Rome) is one piano music and writing for solo flute. The of the most prolific and inventive Italian first is easily explained: Lombardi is a pia- composers of our time. He has sustained nist and among his friends there are quite his compositional creativity on a high level a number of notable pianists who pre- for more than fifty years and has received miered and performed his works, includ- accolades for his music, not only in his na- ing Alessandra Ammara, Giancarlo Cardini, tive Italy, but also in Germany, Japan, and Alessandra Gentile, Roberto Prosseda, and Israel (countries in which he has lived at Frederic Rzewski. (See CD: Luca Lombardi various junctures of his life) as well as in the Piano Works, Continuo 2015). The pref- United States. Lombardi is mostly known erence for the flute seems more of a sur- for large-scale symphonic works, includ- prise. The most obvious explanation is ing symphony-cantatas and secular orato- Lombardi’s encounter with flutists whose rios, as well as one-movement orchestral artistry inspired him to compose for this pieces, and for four operas. (One of the op- instrument: Mario Caroli and Arcadio eras, Prospero, has substantial connections Baracchi who premiered Flatus as individu- with the performers featured on this CD, al pieces and as a cycle, respectively; Eckart and several pieces gathered here originat- Altenmüller (a Renaissance man dedicated ed in the context of instrumental compo- to neurobiology and music therapy, is al- sitions and opera). so a flutist) who premiered the transcrip- 3 tion of the Bach chorale (the last piece on singspiel) whenever Ariel appeared on the tonishing virtuosity (from piccolo to bass the CD). But most notable in this context is scene in the form of four female voices. Nel flute) and in a diverse selection of works, Roberto Fabbriciani whom Lombardi met vento, con Ariel (In the Wind with Ariel), ex- ranging from the earliest manifestations in the 1980s and whose artistry inspired cerpted from the opera for concert perfor- of Lombardi’s muse to pieces with special many of his flute compositions. (The sec- mances, may be considered the apex, or sound effects giving voice to human ex- ond of Sei Bagatelle and Nel vento, con Ari­ most representative of collaborative works pression. el are dedicated to him; and the Echo de for both artists. Syrinx is inscribed “A Roberto” to celebrate The Tre piccoli pezzi of 1965 are inspired by the flutist’s sixtieth birthday). It may not In the last act of Shakespeare’s drama, Pros- neoclassical models with fanfare-like ma- be too far-fetched to speak here of a rich pero addresses Ariel (Act V, 21–24): terials and perpetual motion prevailing in creative collabo ration between compos- the outer movements, framing a lyrical sec- er and instrumentalist that gives voice to Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, ond piece. Twelve years later, in the Quat­ the composer, comparable to the one be- a feeling tro piccoli pezzi, the composer’s language tween Brahms and Mühlfeld (leading to an Of their afflictions, and shall not has changed: he has absorbed serial pro- autumnal flowering of works for the clari- myself, cedures and has begun to include novel net in the 1890s) or between Stockhausen One of their kind, that relish all as sounds on the flute, particularly notewor- and the Kontarsky brothers (the Klavier­ sharply, thy in the last piece of the set, where a sin- stücke of the 1950s). Passions as they, be kindlier moved gle pitch is varied and inflected. (The slow than thou art? movement harkens back to the equivalent In Lombardi’s opera Prospero (after Shake- piece in the 1965 set, and the third move- speare’s The Tempest), the flute is associat- Carrying the analogy of Ariel (spirit of the ment, a scherzo, already foreshadows with ed with Ariel, the spirit of the wind, whose wind) and flute a step further, one might al- its scalar materials the playfulness and servitude allows his master Prospero to en- so think of the flutes, an instrument whose lightness of Lombardi’s Klavierduo of 1978– gage in magic. In the premiere of the op- sound is generated by vibrating columns of 79). The Bagatella of 1983 (the second of era at the National Theatre of Nuremberg air and thus dependent on human breath, a cycle of late summer pieces – Sei baga­ in 2006, the link between Ariel and the as a metaphor of life. “Life” is present in all telle di fine estate) continues to explore the flute was underscored in that Fabbriciani its variety in all the pieces gathered on this characters of the earlier Pezzi (playfulness, was constantly visible on stage, playing his CD in a most diverse collection of flute in- lyricism, humor), while Schattenspiel of “magic” flute (and invoking Mozart’s last struments played by Fabbriciani with as- 1984, sounds more ominous in tone with 4 the dark sonority of the bass flute, fleeting Echo de Syrinx of 2009 is an homage to shadowy figurations, and ghost-like “pizzi- Debussy (a meditation in sound on that cato” sound effects on the instrument. composer’s famous piece for solo flute). The final piece on the CD is a transcription Flatus of the late 1990s joins segments and paraphrase of a Bach chorale (2010) – a from two pre-existent compositions (In­ memorial to Uwe Opolka, a friend who had fra, a brooding chamber work for 11 play- recently passed away. Life is present here ers exploring dark sonorities and delving as an expression of mourning and lament into the subconscious and Lucrezio. Parte I: in the subtlest of nuances. Natura, a secular oratorio) and adds a third composition, Ro’ (for bass flute) written in Jürgen Thym memory of Lombardi’s father Franco Lom- bardi (1906–1989), a philosopher and pro- fessor at the University of Rome. The title invokes a Neapolitan song composed by Franco (Buongiorno Ro’) that served as a tune of recognition in the Lombardi family and is quoted in the piece. Nel vento, con Ariel and the Einstein­Dialog, both of 2005, are closely related in chronol- ogy and sonority to the opera Prospero: The sound of the solo flute is associated, as noted already, with Ariel, while Prospero’s brooding character is captured by the tim- bre of a solo cello. The latter piece, a duo for flute and cello, was commissioned for an Einstein exhibition in Berlin celebrating the centenary of the theory of relativity. 5 Musik für Flöte von Eine Vielfalt musikalischer Stile, Techni- Luca Lombardi ken und Formen fließt in Lombardis Oeu- vre ein, und viele Instrumente werden von ihm kompositorisch bedient, die menschli- che Stimme eingeschlossen. Und dennoch: ein flüchtiger Blick in den „Catalogo delle opere di Luca Lombardi“ (hg. Gabriele Be- cheri, 2005 und 2017 in der Online-Enzyk- lopädie „Komponisten der Gegenwart“ auf den letzten Stand gebracht) zeigt, dass ein Luca Lombardi (geb. 1945 in Rom) ist einer Großteil von Lombardis Schaffenskraft in der produktivsten und einfallsreichsten das Komponieren von Werken für Klavier Komponisten Italiens der Gegenwart. Seit und Flöte floss. Die Liebe zum Klavier kann über 50 Jahren komponiert er auf hohem leicht erklärt werden: Lombardi ist selber schöpferischen Niveau. Er hat nicht nur in Pianist und einige seiner Freunde sind Pi- seinem Geburtsland Anerkennung gefun- anisten, die seine Werke uraufführten den, sondern auch in Deutschland, Japan oder einspielten. Zu nennen wären hier: und Israel (Länder, in denen er zeitweise Alessandra Ammara, Giancarlo Cardini, lebte) und in den USA. Lombardi ist sowohl Alessandra Gentile, Roberto Prosseda und für seine großangelegten symphonischen Frederic Rzewski. (Auf eine CD „Luca Lom- Werke (Symphonie-Kantaten, weltliche bardi Piano Music“, Continuo 2015, sei Oratorien und einzelne Orchestersätze) als hingewiesen.) Die intensive kompositori- auch seine vier Opern bekannt. Eine von sche Beschäftigung mit der Flöte scheint ihnen, Prospero, hat wichtige Verbindun- hingegen ein wenig rätselhaft. Die einfa- gen zu den auf dieser CD vorgestellten In- che Erklärung dafür aber ist, dass Lombar- strumentalisten. Mehrere der hier einge- di mehrfach Flötisten begegnete, deren spielten Stücke fanden ihren Ursprung im Virtuosität ihn zur Komposition von Wer- Zusammenhang mit Instrumentalwerken ken für deren Instrument inspirierte: Ma- und Oper.