Of the 10 selections on this disc of Verdi “discoveries”, four are bona fide world premieres, though in one of those, the Variations for Oboe and Orchestra, only the orchestral part is by Verdi. In the late 1830s clarinetist Giacomo Mori hired the young Verdi to provide an orchestra accompaniment to his variations on the theme “Canto di Virginia”. Here, Verdi displays his early skill at handling large orchestral forces, and the same can be said of his Variations for Piano and Orchestra. However, there are few musical hints in these works–or in the Capriccio for Oboe and Orchestra, the Sinfonia in C, or the Adagio for Trumpet and Orchestra–that suggest the great master Verdi was to become. Indeed, the melodic content is surprisingly ordinary, though the solo writing and overall craftsmanship are never less than top-drawer–and likewise for the solo performances of Alessandro Potenza, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Gianluigi Petarulo, and Andrea Magnani.
The remainder of this collection consists of alternate preludes to some of Verdi’s operas, including the world-premiere of the recently unearthed prelude to Otello. Based on the famous “Credo” theme, the prelude was composed while Verdi was still considering making Iago the opera’s central character. By contrast, the dramatic Aida Sinfonia (here in Toscanini’s edition) was rejected in favor of the current shorter version. The original Simon Boccanegra Prelude suffered a similar fate on revision, while Verdi’s longer, grander second La forza del destino prelude became the standard version. The I Lombardi Act 3 prelude is alone in not being an alternate or revision, but was composed specifically to provide a moment of purely instrumental music (in this case for orchestra with solo violin, here poignantly played by Luca Santaniello) at the opera’s midpoint. Riccardo Chailly leads all-around convincing performances with Milan’s Giuseppe Verdi Symphony, though there are plenty of more intense La Forza’s available (and Chailly doesn’t match Toscanini’s fire in the Aida Sinfonia). Decca’s recording presents the music with satisfactory presence and impact. In sum, this is a novel offering of interest primarily to Verdi devotees. [12/2/2003]
