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Bruno Maderna
Piano Concertos; Quadrivium
naxos 2011
Bruno maderna’s Piano Concerto no. 1 was first presented on 22 June 1942 at the “international
advanced course for composers”, being taught by Gian francesco malipiero
in Venice (also on the course, with maderna, was pianist Gino Gorini). The composition
has an authentic immediacy and shows a balance between technical development and
structural solidity. Like his other piano works at the time, the first concerto (recently
rediscovered among the papers of the pianist Bianca coen in Verona) displays a brilliant,
at times virtuoso solo part woven into the refined orchestral tone texture with very bold
effects foreshadowing maderna’s ingenious late works for orchestra.
maderna was particular fond of the first concerto. in spring 1946, thanks to his friendship
with Bianca coen whose brother Buby lived in London, he had attempted to organise
a performance, possibly to be given by arturo Benedetti michelangeli, who was
preparing for his London debut at the time. To promote the performance of the concert with
the London concert season organisers, maderna prepared a transcription for two pianos
which he wanted to record with himself and Gino Gorini as the performers: “i pursued
the interest and found someone willing to record it on one of those metal discs that they
make today for radio”, he wrote to his adoptive mother, irma manfredi on 4 april 1946.
We don’t know if the recording ever took place, but the piano transcription has miraculously
survived: in 2007 Giovanni morelli found a photogravure copy of the manuscript
in the Gorini archive in the Giorgio cini foundation. This extremely interesting piano
version does not differ substantially from the concerto of 1941, but is useful evidence in
assessing the great progress made by the composer in the period 1941-1946. in fact as
maderna transcribed the work for two pianos, he gradually corrected and changed the
dynamics and agogics of the score in the light of his more recent technical developments
and growing musical sensibility.
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