NINO ROTA - Lucchetta, Martignoni, Sfriso

NINO ROTA 1911 - 1979
Among the four chamber music compositions brought together on this disc, as if to mark certain moments in the rich compositional journey, the one for solo clarinet dating back to 1950 offers a singular suggestion that leads us, as if through an enigmatic shortcut, to touch upon an aspect of the character: just for that title, “Spiritism in the Old House” – that of a comedy by Ugo Betti for which Rota had written the incidental music – which seems to suggest a particular air behind the more common, casual image, the one that Andrea Zanzotto had summarized as "a shining making", a sign of gratitude towards the musician thanks to whom he said he had rediscovered "like an elf, that timeless, gentle 'deus' that is inherent in the music itself"; with that soothing familiarity, too, that led the great poet to recognize that "with Rota's music one often feels like saying: but I've already heard this motif".
A satisfaction that doesn't dispel that slightly strange feeling one feels every time one listens to it, as if strange ghosts were lurking behind that naturalness; those that had enchanted Fellini while working with the musician: "Nino becomes an instrument, and one has the somewhat ridiculous illusion of composing the soundtrack, so much so that Nino fits in with total precision, so much so that he becomes the music needed at that moment..."
And it is precisely this naturalness that seems to be shrouded in a certain ambiguity, narrowing the composer's image to a pure, happy instinct, which was certainly Rota's innate and highly distinctive gift, but which actually implied an equally extraordinary awareness and ability to navigate the linguistic Babel of the twentieth century, as evidenced by the breadth of his output, which grew outside of his cinematic experience. He was, moreover, unaffected by genre or hierarchies, as he himself acknowledged: "I don't believe in class or level differences in music. In my opinion, the definitions of light, semi-light, and serious music are fictitious. Offenbach's scores, now approaching 150 years old, may be as light as you like, but with a lightness that endures over time and has a formidable vitality..."
Like one liberated by its own unmistakable language, clear, captivating, and yet with a hint of bitterness hidden within the folds of that exemplary clarity of writing. To speak of an unmistakability that is also indefinable for those who need cataloguing certainties, for what they count today, increasingly eroded, denied, confused.
On the twentieth anniversary of Rota's death, at a conference held by the Cini Foundation, which currently holds the composer's entire legacy, one of the themes that emerged was that of "candor" as a category within which to place the lyrical vocation of a musician like Rota, apparently so detached from so-called "modernity"; a theme which, far from being a tranquil escape to the Elysium, is in fact no less disturbing.
Fellini, who like few others closely touched Rota's enigmatic aura, spoke of a "sensitive" musician, later denouncing the carelessness that followed his death as "enchanted." Andrea Zanzotto, another keen observer, suggested that the term candor could imply its opposite, even "the ominous pallor of death," which is certainly not the case with Rota. Yet it serves as an element of alternation to create a play of perspective that is both alluring and subtly insidious, precisely because of the tone of his delivery, whose naturalness, the undoubted fruit of an unquestionable musical talent, is imbued with acute interferences, sometimes overt but also more subtle, which cannot fail to resonate problematically against a backdrop like that of the twentieth century and beyond, dominated by the "negative."
Is Rota's voice truly angelic and candid, we might naturally ask?
Gian Paolo Minardi

The clarinet for which Rota wrote "Spiritismo della vecchia casa" was a different instrument from those in use today. It had an elongated lower body and an additional key, which allowed it to extend its range by a semitone toward the low end. It was very popular in Italy at the time.
The modern edition of the composition was transposed for practical purposes, to allow the piece to be performed on instruments currently in use. However, this lost the depth of sound in the lower notes that Rota undoubtedly drew inspiration from to enhance the evocative quality of his composition. This recording, based on the manuscript preserved in the library of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice (kindly made available for consultation) and featuring the notes actually written by Rota, was made possible thanks to the instrument provided by Buffet & Crampon of Paris, a BCXXI, which is equipped with the mechanism necessary to provide us with this precious testimony.