# Malipiero



## Rachmaniac (Oct 20, 2014)

I am just beginning to explore the 20th Century Italian composer Malipiero. Does anybody have any suggestions of pieces of music as a starting point?


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I'm afraid not, but I shall look for some of his music.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

By an exceedingly odd coincidence, I just listened to Malipiero's _Primavera _from 1951, the first orchestral partita from his _Sinfonia della Zodiaco _(his own version of Four Seasons). Very pleasant and listenable, a bit pastoral in flavor, but hardly overwhelming on first listen.


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## Rachmaniac (Oct 20, 2014)

KenOC said:


> By an exceedingly odd coincidence, I just listened to Malipiero's _Primavera _from 1951, the first orchestral partita from his _Sinfonia della Zodiaco _(his own version of Four Seasons). Very pleasant and listenable, a bit pastoral in flavor, but hardly overwhelming on first listen.


Thanks very much I will seek it out. I tend to read reviews on Amazon and the like with the problem being that the reviews are written by people who have bought and love the music anyway. The reviews are therefore biased and by association make it difficult to make a judgment on where to begin.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Rachmaniac said:


> I am just beginning to explore the 20th Century Italian composer Malipiero. Does anybody have any suggestions of pieces of music as a starting point?


I have several Malipiero discs in my collection, and I turn to them on occasion, always pleased by the resulting sound.

One of the best discs to start with may be the MARCO POLO 8.223696 which features four of the composer's shorter symphonies: Nos. 6 ("Degli Archi"), 5 ("Concertante in Eco"), 8 ("Symphonia Brevis"), and 11 ("Della Cornamuse"). The variety is striking, and this disc should present you with an opinion about whether or not you'd wish to seek out more of the man's music.










Besides the symphonies on MARCO POLO discs, I also have the two-disc set of the six Piano Concerti on a cpo SACD 777 287-2 and a set of the String Quartets on a two-disc set from ASV (CD DCD 457). There's a lot to explore with this composer, so just go ahead and plunge in. Chances are, you won't be disappointed.


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## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

I have a very difficult time with Malipiero. I've given his music several tries, and just can't really latch onto anything I find attractive, with one exception, however. His opera L'Orfeide I found quite beautiful. If you enjoy opera, you might want to give this a try.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Personally, I also like a lot Gian Francesco Malipiero's opera-trilogy _L'Orfeide_.

The first part, "La morte delle maschere", is a performance in the fiction of a troupe of actors playing a 'commedia dell'arte'. Orpheus, that is part of the audience, masked, denounces the performance and introduces with several chords of his lyre seven characters, that will represent Mankind...

... in the second part, "Sette canzoni". Each of those 'songs' is a miniopera, based on the seven former characters. Perhaps the most moving one is the third, "Il Ritorno", about an old woman that had just received news of the death of his only son. This is false, but at his return, the son finds his mother cradling a doll, insane with sadness, unreachable. This is Magda Olivero singing:






The last part, "Orfeo, ovvero l'otavva canzone", is another performance, in this case of puppets, in a medieval Court. Orpheus makes everybody sleepy with his lyre and then flees taking with him a fascinated Queen.


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2014)

Rachmaniac said:


> I am just beginning to explore the 20th Century Italian composer Malipiero. Does anybody have any suggestions of pieces of music as a starting point?


But "I am just beginning to explore" sounds like you've already started.



Rachmaniac said:


> I tend to read reviews on Amazon and the like with the problem being that the reviews are written by people who have bought and love the music anyway. The reviews are therefore biased and by association make it difficult to make a judgment on where to begin.


And the comments you'll get here _won't_ be biased?

Otherwise, I don't understand your conclusion about difficulty. What to your mind would make it easy to make a judgment on where to begin? (Though I must say, I'm still puzzled by the whole process here, as by your own description you have already begun.)


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

As a lover of sacred and choral music, I usually find that if I'm enjoying what the composer has produced in this field, I'll be better able to appreciate what he's trying to say elsewhere.
So, for Malipiero, a wonderful starting point for me would be St. Francis of Assisi, or La Passione.


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## Rachmaniac (Oct 20, 2014)

By just begun I should have said I heard some small sections of his music on a podcast and wondered where to start further exploring this composer. Just an incorrect turn of phrase as I wrote the post!!! 

I'm just a music lover who is always looking for something new to expand my music library.


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## Rachmaniac (Oct 20, 2014)

Thanks to all for your suggestions. As a complete beginner with Malipiero they are appreciated!!


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