Chamber Music in Genoa After Nicolò Paganini Quartetto Ascanio

• Camillo Sivori (1815 - 1894):
• 1 Sivori: Piccolo tema con variazioni 09:17
• Carlo Andrea Gambini (1819 - 1865): String Quartet in E Minor:
• 2 Gambini: String Quartet in E Minor: I. Allegro appassionato 09:25
• 3 Gambini: String Quartet in E Minor: II. Allegro vivace non troppo presto 03:45
• 4 Gambini: String Quartet in E Minor: III. Larghetto cantabile 06:49
• 5 Gambini: String Quartet in E Minor: IV. Presto con fuoco 05:28
• Giovanni Serra (1788 - 1876): String Quartet No. 4 in F Minor:
• 6 Serra: String Quartet No. 4 in F Minor: I. Con accento melanconico 08:14
• 7 Serra: String Quartet No. 4 in F Minor: II. Minuetto 02:21
• 8 Serra: String Quartet No. 4 in F Minor: III. Andante religioso 03:49
• 9 Serra: String Quartet No. 4 in F Minor: IV. Scherzo 05:18
• Camillo Sivori:
• 10 Sivori: Rondò in D Major 06:44
• Total Runtime 01:01:10

Info for Chamber Music in Genoa After Nicolò Paganini

Camillo Sivori, considered Paganini’s only pupil, was the most illustrious member of the Genoese violin school. He was also a significant composer whose Piccolo tema con variazioni is both polyphonically rich and operatic, while the Rondò in D major is flecked with virtuoso panache. His teacher in the city had been Giovanni Serra who dedicated his subtle String Quartet in F minor to Sivori. The third Genoese composer is Carlo Andrea Gambini whose String Quartet in E minor was much admired by Rossini.

“This project was born by chance in the fall of 2019, when Quartetto Ascanio was invited to Genoa to perform Carlo Andrea Gambini’s Quartet in E minor on the bicentenary of the composer’s birth. That composition had not been performed for a very long time; indeed, its last performance is presumed to have been that of Sivori in Paris in 1862, in the home of Gioachino Rossini. Following the success of the performance of Gambini’s quartet, we were given the score of the fourth string quartet by Giovanni Serra, a Genoese violinist who received Paganini’s praise and was first violinist and conductor at the Teatro di S. Agostino and then at the Carlo Felice theatre. He gave Sivori lessons in harmony and counterpoint and was an active chamber musician, playing with Camillo Sivori to whom he dedicated the last of his string quartets, in F minor. In July 2020 we completed our project and recorded it at the beautiful Monte Corona abbey in the Umbria region. This programme exclusively consists of world première recordings and has recovered part of the 19th-century Italian chamber repertoire worthy, indeed, of rediscovery.” – Quartetto Ascanio

Quartetto Ascanio

Quartetto Ascanio
was founded in 2004 by the principle parts of the Orchestra da Camera del Trasimeno with the aim to play the wonderful quartet repertoire, under the direction of M°Elizabeth Graham.

Since then, the Quartetto had studied with many famous musicians, Emmanuel Hurwitz (Aolian Quartet, Melos ensemble), Hugh Maguire (ex first violin of the London Symphony, Quartetto Allegri), Mitislav Rostropovich, Rodolfo Bonucci, Quartetto Barcellona, Bruno Giuranna, Pietro Horvath, Demetrio Comuzzi (Nuovo Quartetto Italiano), Robert Cohen, Adrian Pinzaru (Delian Quartet),Quartetto Prometeo, Xenia Ensemble, Mihaela Martin (Quartetto Michelangelo) at the Hochschule für musik of Koln; Quartet Ascanio has taken part in numerous master classes and received grants to study abroad, for example at the “Concorda” course in Kilkenny (Ireland) in 2007 with the principle parts of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and Marc Danel (Danel Quartet).

From 2009 to 2011 has also had advanced tuition with M°Andrea Nannoni at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, and was later granted a scholarship to attend the Chamber music course at the Accademia “W.Stauffer” in Cremona with the Quartetto di Cremona.

As the principle parts of the Orchestra da camera del Trasimeno, the Quartet members have received many awards: first prize summa cum laude at the International festival “ Pro Archi “ in Nyiregyaza (Hungary) together with the special prize for principle parts awarded by Sandor Devich (Quartetto Bartok).

The qa has been invited to play in a great number of prestigious festivals all over Italy and abroad, for example the festival “Famiglia Artistica Reggiana” in Reggio Emilia in collaboration with the Ensemble Kandinsky,”XX Festival Internazionale del Quartetto d'Archi” in Loro Ciuffenna (AR), “Musica d'estate” Bardonecchia (TO),“Musica Insieme” in Panicale (PG), “Armonie della Sera” in the Marche region, “Tuscan Sun Festival” in Cortona (AR),”Cantiere Internazionale dell’Arte” in Montepulciano (SI) where they played first performances of works by Boccadoro, Taglietti, Oldrini, Portera (who dedicated his “Keygen” to the qa), International Festival “F.Pedrell” in Tortosa (Spain), Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, “Musica Insieme” in Panicale (PG), “Musica negli Horti” (SI), Concorso Internazionale di Composizione “Florence String Quartet Call for Scores” (FI). working with famous artists such as U .Pagliai, P. Gassman, S. Barbatano, M. Sollini, C.Pasceri, K.Jablonko.The qa has also collaborated with the composition class of the Musikschule in Düsseldorf “Clara Schumann” during a tour in Germany.

The qa has recorded for the label Sconfinarte (Florence String Quartet Call for Scores) and for Brilliant Classic (Ravel Complete Melodies in collaboration with ECU ensemble).

Booklet for Chamber Music in Genoa After Nicolò Paganini