Grieg: Violin Sonatas Germana Porcu Morano & Bruno Canino

• Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907): Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 8:
• 1 Grieg: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 8: I. Allegro con Brio 09:40
• 2 Grieg: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 8: II. Allegretto quasi Andantino 05:09
• 3 Grieg: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 8: III. Allegro molto Vivace 10:05
• Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13:
• 4 Grieg: Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13: I. Lento doloroso - Allegro Vivace 09:31
• 5 Grieg: Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13: II. Allegretto Tranquillo 06:13
• 6 Grieg: Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13: III. Allegro Animato 05:31
• Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45:
• 7 Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45: I. Allegro molto ed Appassionato 09:13
• 8 Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45: II. Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza 06:24
• 9 Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45: III. Allegro Animato 07:38
• Total Runtime 01:09:24

Info for Grieg: Violin Sonatas

A beloved trio of Romantic violin sonatas in the passionate and assured hands of an exciting Italian violinist near the start of her career: an auspicious debut on Brilliant Classics.

Winner of the 30th edition of Michelangelo Abbado violin competition held in Milan in 2009, Germana Porcu Morano studied in Bergamo, and has gone on to win several other national and international prizes included a scholarship funded by Claudio Abbado. She has performed as a soloist and in chamber ensembles across Europe and in China. She is a member of the Paganini String Quartet, with plans afoot to record the complete quartets by Paganini.

In the meanwhile, Porcu Morano has produced a gripping account of the three violin sonatas by Edvard Grieg in partnership with one of the great Italian musicians of his generation, Bruno Canino. The pianist brings decades of experience to bear on parts which, especially in the testing Third Sonata, demand a virtuosity beyond anything in the Lyric Pieces. Meanwhile Porcu Morano’s urgently communicative musicianship is well suited to works which exemplify the fascinating tension between Grieg’s musical nationalism and his cosmopolitan outlook as a composer with colleagues and friends across Europe.

There are Norwegian elements to all three sonatas – Grieg’s teacher, Niels W Gade, even pronounced his verdict on the Second as ‘too Norwegian’ – but in counterbalance to the folk-like melodies which especially bring a rustic character to both slow movements and finales, there is a breadth of form and broad current of German romanticism to be appreciated in the first movements. Grieg himself took particular pride in the Third, a work of full maturity written in 1886 unlike the student efforts of the first two sonatas, and Porcu Morano’s performance captures the composer’s sense of its ‘broader horizons’.

Germana Porcu Morano, violin
Bruno Canino, piano

Germana Porcu Morano
"A violinist of great skill and confidence, Germana Porcu possesses the flair of an accomplished artist who tackles pieces with great commitment, captivating the audience."

She began her musical studies at an early age under the guidance of F. Cusano. She graduated with top marks and honours and in 2010, as best graduate of the G. Donizetti Conservatory in Bergamo, she received the 'Rotary Prize' from the city of Bergamo. Since 2006, she has played in the Bergamo Musica Festival Orchestra of the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, with which she has toured Italy, Japan and Sweden. In 2009, he performed, under the guidance of composer Giya Kancheli, his composition 'In l'istesso tempo', gaining the author's warm appreciation. He has won numerous scholarships and first prizes including: 1st Absolute Prize at the "III Miryam and Pierluigi Vacchelli International Chamber Music Competition"; 1st Prize at the "XI International Music Competition Italian Festival", receiving the Special Prize "Soloist with Orchestra" thanks to which he performed W.A.'s Concerto No. 5 K 219. Mozart with the "Alessandria Classica" Orchestra; 3rd Prize at the 30th edition of the prestigious "Michelangelo Abbado International Competition for Violinists" (1st - 2nd Prize not awarded), 1st Prize, as soloist with orchestra, at the "26th European Music Competition".

In 2013, she was named 'Most distinguished violinist' at the 'World Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize'. In the same year, she won a scholarship donated by Claudio Abbado. In 2015 she won the 3rd prize at the "V Concurso Internacional y Festival de Músicos La Noche en Madrid", winning the appreciation of the jury president Victor Abramyan (Professor of Violin at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire) and the audience. She has performed in numerous concerts as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain and China. She has attended masterclasses with I. Volochine, S. Makarova, P. Vernikov, K. Bogino. She specialised with F. Cusano in Fiesole, with S. Gessner in Paris and with K. Sahatci in Lugano at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. She played in a duo with pianist Sara Costa, with whom, in 2018, she recorded the complete sonatas for violin and piano by C. Nielsen, published on the OMK-Da Vinci record label, a record that met with critical acclaim. In 2016, he formed the Trio Carducci, with whom he played until 2018. As a trio he won the 2nd prize at the Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition in London and in April 2017 he made his debut at the Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room).

The year 2018 was full of news for the Trio: in March a concert at the prestigious St. Martin in the Fields in London, in June a tour in China, performing in the most prestigious Chinese theatres (in Beijing at the National Library Arts Centre and Sunrise Concert Hall BUAA, Tianjin Grand Theatre Concert Hall, Yangzhou Concert Hall, Telunsu Concert Hall in Chengdu, Harbin Concert Hall), meeting with enormous success. December 2018 saw the release on the international record label Brilliant Classics of a disc dedicated to Russian composer A. Arensky. In 2019, a disc dedicated to the rediscovered duets for violin and guitar by Brescian composer Giacomo Merchi, in duo with guitarist Gabriele Zanetti, was released on the OMK-Da Vinci record label. A recording project of Antonio Vivaldi's concertos for 4 violins, with violinist Franco Mezzena and the Orchestra da Camera di Lecce e del Salento, for the record label Luna Rossa Classic will be released shortly. Since 2016 he has been playing with guitarist Roberto Porroni, with whom he has an important concert activity in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. Composer Pino Donaggio wrote and dedicated his composition 'Lo specchio del tempo', recently recorded, together with music by Morricone and Ortolani.

She holds the supporting role in the chamber group 'Le Soliste Italiane'. In 2019 she was chosen as the representative violinist in the Tiscali commercial by director Howard Greenhalgh, who has worked with great artists including Sting, George Michael and others. She plays a Gaetano Pollastri 1954 violin, kindly granted by a private individual.

Booklet for Grieg: Violin Sonatas