Music: the lost song by Mascagni become a Cd

FLORENCE, ITALY – A tuscan team records for the first time the precious unpublished (1883) by Livorno composer Pietro Mascagni, which incorporates – in Italian – Schiller’s ode that inspired the “Hymn to the Joy” by Beethoven.

The last time it was performed between March 1882 and June 1883, in Livorno and Pisa. Then more than a century of oblivion, until – auctioned by Christie’s – the “lost song” by Mascagni has returned in the possession of his heirs . Now, after being performed live for the first time last December, the song “Alla gioja” (To the joy) for voices, chorus and piano by the Livorno composer is back to be presented with a CD (ed. Concerto). Thanks to the Foundation “Fausta Cianti” and its president Cesare Orselli (today considered the greatest expert of Italian Mascagni), who each year donate two scholarships to students of piano and singing of the conservatory of Florence and Siena.

The composition is based on the Italian text of the ode “To the joy” by Friedrich Schiller, the same place in the fourth movement of the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig v. Beethoven (the famous Ode to Joy today anthem of the European Union). The song, dedicated to the count Florestan Larderel,  earned Mascagni a scholarship to complete his training to Milan.

The song – which sets to music the whole of Schiller’s ode, while Beethoven was limited to a few lines – consists of three parts for a total of 16 pieces, more than an hour of music. “To the joy” looks like a typical work of the conservatory. A large work in which Mascagni has invested considerable energy, regardless of the implicit comparison with Beethoven, Schubert or Tchaikovsky.

Now the lons song become a CD, conducted by Ennio Clari and starring Rosita Saints (soprano), Michael Alfonsi (tenor), Massimiliano Fichera (baritone), Stephen Rinaldi Miliani (low ), Andrea Found (piano), and the chorus of “City of Florence”.