Paolo Litta (1912): La Déesse nue (piano, violin, triangle)

Among the lost traesures of the past, and totally forgotten by all, and everywhere, there are the works of Paolo Litta, all of them ! and particularly La Déesse nue (Tthe nude Goddess), a ballet written for a dancer, piano, violin, and most surprisingly, triangle.
The name of Paolo Litta isn't even mentionned by encyclopedias should it be from Germany, France, Italy or Belgium, the diverse countries where he lived and was played or published.
I discovered that music by pure chance, in a second hand music shop in Paris, and from the first look, I was convince to be facing a masterpiece. The music is rich, dense, very expressive, showing an extreme knowlege of the instrumental possibilities, and perfectly structured all the way through… in a word, was the work of a real master.
Describing its style is not easy, even if now, I'd be able to recognize a Litta's work after one bar… maybe one could advance Richard Strauß, for the richness of the harmony and the intricacy of the themes, but less German, and I would say much closer to the Franco-Belgian school after Franck, and in the path of d'Indy…
To be also mentioned, is hes use of the Leit-motives, or let say short themes or fragments of themes representing a person, an emotion, a situation… forming a sort of an inside network to the music…
That ballet was first performed at Paris in may 1912, and the part in my possession is dedicated obviously to the dancer: "a la gensissima signorina Tatiana Donskaïa", also obviously a Russian dancer, and not without connection for sure with the Nijinski's Russian Ballet in Paris then, since the first famous (and tumultuous) Stravinski's Rite of the spring performance took place exactly a year later (May 29th,1913)
That recording was made few monthes before our first performance (1994) to enable the coregraph to plan her coregraphy,
More informations (and more music) on : www.jeanclaudeferet.net
unfortunately for the moment, it's only in French (01/08).

Production

Artist: Piano: Anne-Lise Feéret. Violin: Jean-Claude Feéret. Triangle: Alain Muszinski

Producer: J-C F

Writer: Paolo Litta

Categories

Categories: Classical (Instrumental)

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