The string quartets of Donizetti and Verdi, and the oboe concerto of Bellini, represent rare overlaps between the fields of operatic and instrumental music in 19th-century Italy. Moving into the 20th century, the operas of Respighi have gained a toe-hold on the record catalogues but he is still remembered principally (and justly) for his orchestral showpieces such as the Pines of Rome, while composers in the contemporary verismo tradition carried on doing what they did best and producing knock-em-dead tragedies of high drama and low life for the lyric stage, from Tosca to La Gioconda. Or did they? A fact known to very few even in Italy is that Amilcare Ponchielli, composer of La Gioconda and teacher of Puccini, wrote not only for the opera house but also the church. As the son of a shopkeeper who was organist in the village church, he studied music first with his father and then with the organist of a neighboring village. In his early years he produced a substantial repertoire of sacred music and a body of organ pieces for occasional and liturgical use, few of which were played until Marco Ruggeri, the organist on this new recording, gathered them together for an authoritative critical edition in 1999. They include a novel symphony 'half for organ, half for piano'. In 2011 Ruggeri recorded roughly half of Ponchielli's organ output for the Bottega Discantia label, an album now superseded by this new recording made in 2017 and 2019. Never previously recorded are a collection of delightful Pastorales, as well as a funeral march in memory of his father, and a prelude to a cantata by Donizetti. However, there is one piece without which no self-regarding Ponchielli collection would be complete, and Marco Ruggeri includes it here as an encore: the 'Dance of the Hours' from La Gioconda, made eternally famous by Disney's troupe of dancing elephants.

Tracklist:

Pastorale No. 1 In F Major. Andante
Pastorale No. 2 In G Major. Allegretto
Pastorale No. 3 In C Major. Allegretto
Pastorale No. 4 In A Minor. Allegro
Pastorale No. 5 In G Major. Andante
Pastorale No. 6 In A Major. Allegro Moderato
Pastorale No. 7 In F Major. Allegretto
Pastorale No. 8 In C Major. Moderato
Pastorale No. 9 In C Major. Andante Mosso
Pastorale No. 10 In D Major. Andante
Pastorale No. 11 In G Major. Moderato Assai
Pastorale No. 12 In D Major. Allegretto
Pastorale No. 13 In F Major. Allegro
Pastorale No. 14 In C Major. Andante Variator
Pastorale In D Major. - Andantino
Marcia Funebre. Elegia In Memoria Del Padre
Sinfonia "Metà Per Organo E Metà Per Pianoforte"
L'annunzio Ai Pastori
Ripieno
Assai Moderato
Moderato
Per Ripieno O Per Elevazione
Larghetto-Allegretto
Adagio
Allegretto Campestre
Fuga
Andante-Allegretto
Versetto
Andante-Allegretto Non Tanto
Andante Grave
Allegro-Allegretto
Andante Mosso
Allegro
Facile Marcia
Preludio Dalla Cantata A Donizetti
Variazioni Per Cembalo
Danza Delle Ore

UPC: 5028421960197
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 1.3.20
Format: CD

Ponchielli / Ruggeri - Complete Organ Music (CD)