I have always considered the “compositive meeting” with a never employed instrument as an important incentive to enlarge my sound image and to open inside myself new expressive landscapes. Over the years this happened with the accordion, the cimbalom, the “sounding stones” by the sculptor Pinuccio Sciola, and with other unusual instruments. As for soñada, it has been a double meeting: on one side an amazing instrument, at first glance a cross between a guitar and a tiorba, but which shows more and more a richness and beauty of sound, technical means, registers and dynamics absolutely original, not comparable with each other similar instrument ones, and from the other side a performer, Christian Lavernier, the only one owner of this instrument, true its own mentor, who is continuously open to put himself in the game with immense passion, skill and dedication, to answer to every composer’s request, thinking they are always possible, to “travel” with the same composer discovering new possibilities. Across Christian, I’ve known a so large number of soñada’s resources, and I’ve obtained such a number of ideas by them that the only one way to give them life and sound without falling in a catalogue has been to imagine a series of short pieces, each of which with its own clear figural and imaginative appearance, every time based upon particular aspects of the instrument. The first one starts from the true center of the register and enlarges it till we’re amazed by its range, the second one is around the proximity of the low tuning of sixth ad seventh string (re-mi) and then leans against the dark sound of the resonance strings, the third one is based on the “bordone” of open eleventh string, played with a bow, over which left hand sings an ascending melody; the fourth one consists in a series of very quick variations, the fifth uses a wide collection of extended techniques, obtaining unpredictable sonorities, the last one is concentrated on every kind of harmonics on the eleven strings.I hope I could give a contribution to the knowledge and the repertory of an enormously interesting instrument, exploring at the same time with it new expressive fields of mine.
(Alessandro Solbiati)
There are places and stories, which join us through music, and evolve and change in the gaily-coloured tesserae of this recording mosaic. In 1805 Napoleon Coste (1805-1883) was born in Amodans, a little french village near Switzerland. Napoleon did not become a soldier as his father had hoped and the music was his only weapon. So many images and the breath of the lovely french spot live in Les soirées d’Auteuil Op.23 which include two “movimenti” – Serenade andScherzo – from the collection Souvenirs. Only one year’s difference between this composer and Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856). In the 1840 Mertz was in Vienna and the influence of his wife, a talented pianist, became clear; the Fantasie Hongroise, marked by some structural features of piano music, was composed in this period. Our journey continues in Spain. During a concert by Antonio Jiménez Manjon, a blind guitarist, the guitarist Miguel Llobet (1878-1938) feels a deep calling for music which carries him to explore popular expressions of this art. The anonymous theme of “Follia” charmes him so strongly that he decides to complete the work of Sor with the Variazioni Op.15. Other places and other stories. Enrique Granados (1867-1916) write the famous Oriental for piano, part of the 12 Danzas españolas composed in 1890. The music world is and has always been a mix of talents and abilities which interlace. So, an already famous Segovia, conscious of his talent, pushed an hesitant Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) to write for guitar. In 1936, in three days only, the Tarantella Op.87a, here in its original version, was ready. In 1961 the composer refined his sensibility in El sueño de la razón produce monstruos, one of the 24 Caprichos inspired by Goya’s pictures. Now, our journey takes us to Brazil with Sergio Assad (1952-) with the magic and ‘saudade’ of Farewell, before going to Florence where the sicilian guitarist Nuccio D’Angelo (1955-) composed Due Canzoni Lidie. He exploits the archaic mode called Lydus through which time is transformed from ancient into modern. In the same year was born the french composer Roland Dyens (1955-2016), from Algeria, and Alfonso Montes (1955-), from Venezuela. The Dyens’ style tells about his disease and he expresses its evolution by three times : “before” the disease in India, “during” the disease in Largo and then the “new life” in Fuoco. Montes describes with intense melancholy the sense of separation in Preludio de Adios. Finally back to Italy, in a little town near Imperia, Pieve di Teco, Luchino Belmonti (1931-2002) spreads everywhere his innovative ideas. His theory of the integral scale was used even in 1997 in his only work for guitar Vagando here performed for the first time in the world. Our journey ends with a simple idea: the music cannot exist if it is always the same.
In 2019, while I was walking through the streets of Paris, my eyes saw a small book on the ground. It was “Oscariana” by Oscar Wilde. I looked in vain for its owner: the book was brand new, just bought with the receipt still inside. I couldn’t find anyone who claimed it, so I decided to take it home with me. A few days later, I started to write the first track of this record, “Oscariana”, with the idea of layering different layers of sound. I have always dreamed of playing with my own self, but for one reason or another, I have never found the way to make it possible. This could have been the right opportunity. La Soñada could follow me on this journey, in fact I think it traced the path even before I played the first note. I decided to overdub three tracks one on top of the other, three Soñadas, three lines, three me. This work has required about two years of study and the construction of individual scores, as if they were three different instruments and three instrumentalists who meet in Paris on any given day and decide to make music together. I explored further the possibilities of this wonderful eleven-stringed instrument, its colours, working on the live sound, its character. I have known (or maybe, re-known) those three completely different musicians, with their fears and their own ways of seeing the music. It’s a work that gathers the personal listenings and sonorities of many years of life, from Classical music to Contemporary music, passing through Jazz.I tried to bring together these three musicians who have hated and loved each other, and who in the end decided to make music together, without having any expectation other than finding a sound and personal image that could truly represent them. It has been an exciting journey, sometimes frightening, like all journeys, and like all journeys it has come to an end. “Aria” like that we breathe, “Aria” like the breath of a wind that I did not know and that has been my daily companion during these two years of research.
Introducono il libretto del disco Ennio Morricone, Azio Corghi, Andrea Talmelli e Carlos Gonzalez.
Esce il nuovo disco “Contemporary Future”, con il patrocinio della SIMC (Società Italiana Musica Contemporanea) del CIDIM (Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica) sviluppato grazie al nuovo strumento LA SOÑADA . Si tratta di uno strumento unico al mondo, costruito appositamente dal Maestro liutaio Carlos Gonzalez pensando alla nuova musica di Christian Lavernier. Con l’introduzione di Ennio Morricone e la musica di Azio Corghi, Andrea Talmelli, Corrado Rojac e Nicola Campogrande da oggi è disponibile in tutto il mondo negli stores fisici e su tutte le piattaforme di distribuzione online. Prodotto dalla EMA Vinci, il disco è stato scelto per far parte della collana SIAE – Classici di Oggi.
“I miei dodici Preludi a getto d’inchiostro sono stati scritti, nel 2001, per chitarra. Dopo aver ascoltato il suono de La Soñada, nel 2018 ho deciso di preparare una versione ad hoc, che sfrutti tutte le 11 corde di questo straordinario nuovo strumento. L’ambizione della raccolta è quella di disegnare un mondo. E’ un mondo postmodern, in cui ci si può fermare ad osservare particolari architettonici del passato e guizzi del presente, in cui si ascoltano riferimenti a forme classiche ripensate con disincanta allegria, un mondo che cerco di dipingere regalandomi tempi di lavoro molto lunghi e distillando poi il risultato in pagine che abbiano addosso il brivido della sintesi. Se io fossi un computer, questi Preludi sarebbero la mia stampante: molto lavoro a monte, un solo gesto rapido per riempire il foglio”
(Nicola Campogrande)
Tres Almas, sono le anime che compongono questo lavoro per chitarra.Ilsu Same, Matria e Papier de Riz,Sono grato a tutte le anime che mi hanno permesso di comporre queste partiture. A loro va il mio affetto e la mia stima.(2017)
Tres Almas, are the souls who compose this work for guitar. Ills Same, Matria and Papier de Riz. I’m grateful to all my souls who allowed me to compose these scores. To all of them go my love and esteem. (2017)
Ci sono storie e luoghi che arrivano a noi attraverso la musica e si trasformano nelle tessere variopinte di questo mosaico discografico. La musica non può esistere uguale a se stessa: è il filo conduttore di qu esto lavoro.(2013)
There are places and stories, which join us through music ,and evolve and change in the gaily-coloured tesserae of this recording mosaic. Music cannot exist, if always the same: it’s the guide line of this work. (2013)