19th-Century Operatic Paraphrases for Clarinet and Piano

Description

Today, the names Ferdinando Sebastiani, Francesco Pontillo, Gaetano Lablanchi, and Giacomo Miluccio are known primarily to specialists—clarinettists and, more generally, devotees of the instrument’s extensive and captivating repertoire. Yet, during much of the nineteenth century, some of them enjoyed a wider reputation, extending beyond the expert sphere into concert halls and bourgeois salons. Here, original clarinet works and numerous transcriptions—especially those based on operatic excerpts—offered appealing chamber performances, blending warm, amiable expression with displays of indispensable virtuosity. In that fertile environment, the roles of performer and composer often overlapped or interacted, fostering advances in instrumental technique and performance practice. For this reason, many leading clarinettists of the time were also committed teachers.
The works presented in this recording, drawn from four distinguished composer-clarinettists, share a distinctive feature: all these figures were, at various times, acclaimed virtuosos as well as instrumental tutors. Moreover, each had roots in Naples, a cultural and geographical setting of particular richness. The story traced by Luca Sartori and Giovanni Imparato unfolds around two Neapolitan institutions: the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella and the Teatro di San Carlo—two living musical monuments, replete with glory and suggestive associations. We might say they are pieces of Naples gifted to Europe.
The chronological structure chosen by Sartori and Imparato highlights the existence of a genuine Neapolitan clarinet school. Although it may not have been as abundant as the city’s pianistic tradition, it can be defined by certain stylistic ideals and technical principles. In this context, Ferdinando Sebastiani (1803–1860) stands as the starting point of a lineage that many would later follow. It was he who re-established the Clarinet Chair at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory, becoming its first incumbent. After his more than twenty-year tenure, the chair passed to Francesco Pontillo and then to Gaetano Labanchi, marking important transitions from master to pupil. Giacomo Miluccio also taught at the Naples Conservatory, but in the latter half of the twentieth century. Two centuries, one instrument, four musicians—all trained in Naples, all principal clarinets at the Teatro di San Carlo. This web of connections provides the conceptual thread—should one be required—for this recording.
Born in Capua, Sebastiani was educated at the same institution—then known as the Collegio di Musica di S. Sebastiano—where he would later teach. By all accounts, he was a child prodigy. Contemporary sources report that “at six he began his musical studies; at nine he was performing at the Teatro del Fondo with a visiting French company; and by the age of ten and a half he was playing in the orchestra of the Teatro San Carlino, accompanying the early performances of the young Lablanche”—referring to Luigi Lablache, the most celebrated bass of his day. Sebastiani’s fruitful association with the theatre world meant that by twenty-two he had taken the position of principal clarinet in the orchestras of the Royal Theatres—San Carlo and del Fondo—and the Royal Chapel. He held the San Carlo position until 1859, distinguishing himself for both artistic and organisational abilities. Reviews of the time regularly praised his intonation and phrasing. Highly esteemed by Rossini, who regarded him as a patriarch of clarinetists, he also earned the respect of Donizetti—whose home he frequented—Mercadante, and Pacini. Verdi entrusted him with significant solo parts in operas staged at the San Carlo, including Alzira and Luisa Miller, the latter featuring a captivating overture with a prominent clarinet solo. Verdi’s regard extended beyond professional respect: in letters to Neapolitan friends, the composer always remembered to send his best wishes to Sebastiani.
While there are no explicit written doctrines that define the so-called Neapolitan clarinet school, its distinctive quality undoubtedly lies in the virtuosity required by its masters and pupils. Here, virtuosity was not simply an end in itself but a means to achieve an indispensable exploration of sound and a continuous refinement of instrumental technique and potential. It is hardly surprising that Sebastiani published a Metodo per clarinetto in 1855, widely used in teaching until the close of the nineteenth century. Nor should one overlook his consultancy work for Gennaro Bosa’s instrument workshop in Naples, where he recommended important modifications to the clarinet’s mechanism.
The two works by Sebastiani on this recording date from his younger years, when he was rapidly gaining prominence on both Neapolitan and, subsequently, national and international stages. The Trois Fantaisies sur divers morceaux de Rossini et Paër for clarinet and piano were published in Paris in 1828, followed by Ricordi’s 1834 edition of the Fantasia sulla Norma. Sebastiani’s catalogue would later include chamber Scherzi on Il trovatore and La traviata, as well as two orchestral concerti variati inspired by Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Bellini’s Il pirata. These lively, brilliant pieces clearly evoke the operatic world, aligning themselves with early nineteenth-century bel canto styles, characterised by frequent ornamentation and formidable technical challenges.
Such works were often performed outside formal theatre settings, satisfying the bourgeois appetite for cultivated social gatherings without frivolity. They were also frequently included in the recital programmes of composer-performers, showcasing their outstanding technical prowess. The wide availability of this repertoire was facilitated by publishers who fostered a robust market cutting across social strata, meeting both artistic and social aspirations.
As Luca Sartori notes, Sebastiani’s Fantasia n.2 dedicated to Paër (presented here in Adriano Amore’s recent revision) is, as far as we know, a first recording. The same likely applies—though certainty is elusive—to the revival of the Fantasia sui motivi dei Martiri by Francesco Pontillo (1827–1890), published by Ricordi in 1865. Pontillo absorbed Sebastiani’s style and professional approach as his student at the Naples Conservatory. Following Sebastiani’s death, Pontillo inherited his teaching post at the Conservatory (holding it until 1890) and, like his master, became Principal Clarinet at the San Carlo from 1864. Like Sebastiani, Pontillo drew extensively on the Italian operatic repertoire, enhancing the clarinet’s melodic qualities. He too paid special homage to Verdi, as evidenced by Fantasias based on Luisa Miller, La traviata, La forza del destino, and Un ballo in maschera. These operas, popular at the San Carlo, had become what we might now consider canonical repertoire. Les martyrs—adapted here as Martiri—is a four-act opera composed by Donizetti in 1839 and premiered in Paris the following year. It was essentially a French reworking of Poliuto, originally intended for the San Carlo but delayed by censorship and not staged in Naples until 1848, after the composer’s death. By using the French title, Pontillo recalls the opera’s Parisian origins, though a recent American edition refers to it once again as a Fantasia sul Poliuto.
Two years after Pontillo’s death, the Clarinet Chair passed to Gaetano Lablanchi (1829–1908), a Sicilian by birth who built his career in Naples through many years of service in the San Carlo orchestra. He also served as a soloist at the Royal Chapel. Lablanchi’s connection with his Fantasia sull’opera Aida is particularly strong: at the première of Verdi’s Aida in Cairo on 24 December 1871, he was seated as principal clarinet. Twelve years later, after having also performed Aida at the San Carlo (with Verdi’s supervision), Lablanchi returned to the work to create a brilliant paraphrase that remains faithful to the original themes. As a teacher, Lablanchi worked tirelessly and published numerous teaching materials. His Metodo progressivo per il clarinetto (Naples, 1900) sets out to “make known the growth and development undergone by the clarinet, both in its mechanism and intonation.” Equally noteworthy are the Dodici studi melodici for clarinet, edited with Antonio Micozzi, now considered an authoritative reference work.
The last composer featured here brings us into the twentieth century. Giacomo Miluccio (1918–1998) was active throughout much of its second half. He studied under Micozzi at the Naples Conservatory and embarked on a distinguished career immediately after winning a national competition for young concert performers. From 1953 to 1955, at Antonino Votto’s invitation, he served as principal clarinet in the orchestra of La Scala, Milan. He later returned to Naples, holding the same post at the San Carlo until the 1970s. At La Scala, under Votto, Miluccio performed La forza del destino in a legendary production with Tebaldi and Di Stefano, and it may be from this grateful memory that he drew inspiration for the Divertimento sui motivi de La forza del destino, recently published by Da Vinci. Many renowned conductors praised his intonation, technique, and virtuosity, among them Hans Knappertsbusch, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and especially Victor de Sabata, Music Director at La Scala during Miluccio’s tenure there. Among Miluccio’s many students was Sisto Lino D’Onofrio, who also served for many years as principal clarinet at the San Carlo—further testimony, if we needed it, to the importance of that connecting thread woven between theatre, conservatory, and Naples itself.
Stefano Valanzuolo © 2024