VITTORIO GIANNINI: Piano Quintet; Piano Trio – Musicians of the Manchester Music Festival – MSR Classics

VITTORIO GIANNINI: Piano Quintet; Piano Trio – Musicians of the Manchester Music Festival – MSR Classics MSR 1394, [Distr. by Albany] 61:00 ****:
In his time, Italian-American neo-romantic composer Vittorio Giannini (1903-66) was known for the 12 operas that he penned. In 1954, his most famous one, Taming of the Shrew, was produced on color television by the NBC Opera Theater, and won the Music Critics Circle Award. Of it, critic Howard Taubman wrote, “the score is instinct with the spirit of Italian lyricism.” Born into a musical family – his father was a tenor at the Metropolitan Opera and the first man to record on a flat phonograph disc in the 1890s – he became a distinguished teacher of composition and music theory at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute (John Corigliano was a student). He was the visionary force behind the establishment of the North Carolina School of the Arts – and its first president.  His niece, Maura Giannini, herself a violinist, commented in the program booklet that “he loved life, music, fast cars and cigars and believed passionately in the future of the arts through young students.”
Giannini was a strong advocate of melody as an inspirational genesis of music. “Those composers who make a point of avoiding melody are those who, in most instances, couldn’t [write one] if they wanted to, because it never comes to them.” Indeed, his whole output, which includes seven symphonies, the chamber works on this disc, and other concert music, display prolific melodic content. The tranquil opening theme of the Piano Quintet (1931) is a beautiful example of Giannini’s lyrical invention, lusciously performed by violist and Manchester Music Festival’s Artistic Director Ariel Rudiakov. Even more impressive is the exquisitely luminous adagio, where Giannini seamlessly passes melodies from one instrument to another. It’s the highlight of this world premiere disc. Even the allegro, offering welcome contrast with a restless beginning and agitated interludes, contains moments of tonal respite. The Piano Quintet is certainly a work that’s worth discovery for chamber music lovers.
The Piano Trio (1933) continues Giannini’s exploration of sumptuous romantic textures, passionate exclamations, and ripe melodies that could be written a century earlier. But that doesn’t make it less attractive to those longing for tender musical respite in an often frenetic world. Especially magical is the affectionate and heartfelt slow movement.  But, wait! The final movement is edgy and quite angry – ending with a dissonant Ivesian chord that’s akin to a pungent salad at the end of a meaty meal.
The musicians of the Manchester (New Hampshire) Music Festival play with aplomb and the sound is resplendent – made in the renowned Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York. This is a disc for lovers of conservative chamber music looking for new territory to explore.
—Robert Moon