With its firework displays of virtuosity embellishing beloved arias of the time, the opera fantasy genre seems a natural byproduct of the 19th century’s fascination with showmen like Paganini and Liszt and the soaring popularity of Italian opera. Principal of Milan’s La Scala, clarinetist-composer Luigi Bassi milked the instrument’s pyrotechnic potential in his Concert Fantasia on Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. Verdi gladly released his music to Bassi and others for recomposition, himself profiting from the publicity of Bassi’s opera fantasy performances, but one of Rigoletto’s arias is conspicuously absent from the present work. Verdi allegedly reserved “La donna è mobile”, the opera’s most famous number, for the fully-staged production only. Notes by Graeme Steele Johnson
Classical Music | Clarinet Music
Luigi Bassi
Concert Fantasia on Motives from Verdi's Rigoletto Play
Recorded on 10/30/2019, uploaded on 04/02/2020
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
With its firework displays of virtuosity embellishing beloved arias of the time, the opera fantasy genre seems a natural byproduct of the 19th century’s fascination with showmen like Paganini and Liszt and the soaring popularity of Italian opera. Principal of Milan’s La Scala, clarinetist-composer Luigi Bassi milked the instrument’s pyrotechnic potential in his Concert Fantasia on Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. Verdi gladly released his music to Bassi and others for recomposition, himself profiting from the publicity of Bassi’s opera fantasy performances, but one of Rigoletto’s arias is conspicuously absent from the present work. Verdi allegedly reserved “La donna è mobile”, the opera’s most famous number, for the fully-staged production only. Notes by Graeme Steele Johnson
More music by Luigi Bassi
Fantasia (I puritani by Bellini)
Performances by same musician(s)
Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
Canzonetta, Op. 19
Un'aura amorosa, from Così fan tutte
Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera
Cantilène
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
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