CD ECM Records Gianluigi Trovesi All' Opera: Parfumo Di Violetta

2008

Gianluigi Trovesi - saxofon alto, clarinet
Marco Remondini - violoncel, electronice
Stefano Bertoli - tobe, percutie
Filarmonica Mousiké , dirijor Savino Acquaviva
Fabio Brignoli - flugelhorn

Italy’s great musical archaeologist and one of the outstanding improvisers of his country, Gianluigi Trovesi with “Profumo di Violetta” indulges in his love for the emotional drama and musical beauty of Italian opera. (The title simultaneously alludes to the protagonist of Verdi’s famous opera “La traviata” and to the flower’s sweet perfume.) Accompanied by the characteristic North-Italian provincial “banda”, a large wind orchestra with percussion as we find it in the on-stage-music of most Verdi operas, Trovesi takes us on a humorous journey through the history of the genre. It starts with Monteverdi’s “Orfeo”, includes many highlights from “La traviata” before briefly visiting Mascagni and Puccini. The popular and the sublime, irony and unrestrained pathos meet with an improvisational spirit that conveys the pure joy of music making. One of the most unorthodox albums in this year’s release schedule, Trovesi’s opera project is likely to win many enthusiastic listeners among opera lovers and open-minded jazz enthusiasts.

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International Record Review, Outstanding
Stereoplay, Die Audiophile
Il Giornale della musica, il disco del mese
Consigliato da Musica Jazz

Trovesi’s own compositions extend and stretch the material. It is this, alongside the assured and sensitive arrangements by a clutch of hands, that give this record much of its charm. The Italian band tradition substitutes brass or woodwind for the prima donna and uomo, so this is no great leap for Trovesi. … There is a real energy and joie de vivre to this orchestra’s performance that truly lifts the music and makes this truly special. Elegant and it swings.
Duncan Heining, Jazzwise

Gianluigi Trovesi, wild-haired Italian jazz clarinettist, creates a turbo-charged version of a traditional Italian town band to play a medley of quirkily arranged Italian opera tunes. It includes some of Rossini’s and Verdi’s greatest hits, garlanded with Trovesi’s husky solos, plus foot-tapping Baroque dances. It’s funny, sentimental and charming.
Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph

Here he links the kind of disarming simplicity to be found on In cerca di cibo… with the Renaissance/popular fantasy that is Vaghissimo Ritratto and the wild enjoyment of a huge sound characteristic of his nonet disc, Round about a Midsummer Night’s Dream. …
What a world it is! Trovesi’s clarinet soars and leaps above skirmishing oboes and clarinets, serried ranks of horns and saxophones of all sizes, athletic tubas and piercing piccolos and cors anglais. The variety of timbre is astounding, and the alternations of intimacy and utter abandon when the whole ensemble plays together deeply moving.
Ivan Moody, International Record Review

To say they’ve succeeded in making wonderful music is to understate their accomplishment. Boundaries are not erased; they’re treated as if they never existed. The melding of classical techniques with jazz is wholly organic. Trovesi’s consummately modern improvisations sound completely at home in the context of his own compositions and Guarino’s arrangements, without a hint of compromise. Indeed, this is the most naturally affecting music I’ve heard in a while.
Chris Kelsey, JazzTimes