CD 1
Samples - Calace
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Raffaele Calace (1863-1934) Concerto Nº.1 opus 113
10 Marziale 11 Largo Tranquillo 12 Rondo
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His mandolin method can also be seen as a bridge between the methods by the mandolin virtuoso Silvio Ranieri (1882-1956), who had settled in Brussels and the American based Italian master of the instrument Giuseppe Pettine (1874-1966). Raffaele Calace and his brother Nicola Calace (1859-1923) were, besides their activities as musicians, also recognised as excellent makers of the instruments of the Neapolitan mandolin family. They introduced improvements in the building techniques such as the enlargement of the sound box and - like the Roman master luthier Luigi Embergher - the fingerboard that extended over the sound hole to enlarge the ambitus of the mandolin. When Nicola emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1898, Raffaele continued the Calace workshop with his daughter Maria, a gifted mandolin player as well, and his son Giuseppe. Today the Calace atelier is run by Calace´s grandson Raffaele Jr. And still known for its excellent made instruments of the Mandolin family.
Raffaele Calace wrote his first Mandolin Concerto op. 113 for Mandolin and Piano and dedicated it to Giuseppe Pettine (1874-1966), an Italian immigrant who had settled in Providence, Rhode Island (USA) in 1888. Already before the immigration, the young Pettine was known as a child prodigy with extraordinary talent for the mandolin. In America he was soon recognised as the most successful mandolin virtuoso of his time. As a composer Pettine composed many interesting and technically demanding works for the instrument in various combinations. One of the most substantial is his three-movement Concerto Patetico for mandolin and piano.
Calace´s Mandolin Concerto No. 1 is one of the
finest examples of true Italian Romanticism and
virtuosity. Like his 10 Preludes for solo mandolin,
the Concerto is full of musical challenges to the
performer; technically high developed (new)
plectrum techniques like for instance ´duo-style´,
tremolo chord playing, rapid harp-like arpeggios
and expressive fast scale passages are combined
here with sensitive melody lines that give the
soloist a change to show his capabilities as a virtuoso.
The Concerto is recorded here for the first
time for mandolin accompanied by mandolin
chamber orchestra. The arrangement is written
in the Italian style and kept very close to the
original piano part. It must be seen as an attempt
to enlarge the repertoire for solo mandolin and
(plucked) orchestra with one of the most
delightful Romantic concertos that has been
written for the instrument.
© Alex Timmerman.
The Soloist in Calace´s Concerto
Sebastiaan de Grebber is born in 1980 in Zwolle, a town in the middle of the Netherlands. He received his first mandolin lessons at the age of eight at the Centre for Art education ‘De Muzerie’ in his hometown. Soon his talent for the instrument appeared and he was invited as a mandolinist to play with other music students in diverse instrumental combinations. After Sebastiaan was introduced in 1992 during the yearly study-weekends to the Mandolin Chamber Orchestra Het Consort, he was invited to be the soloist in Vivaldi's famous Mandolin Concerto during the Swedish tour (1994) of the Chamber Orchestra. Since then he has been permanently attached to Het Consort. During the next years Sebastiaan devoted all of his time to music and subscribed to the ´High School for the Arts - Constantijn Huygens´ to study Music education and the Mandolin professionally with Alex Timmerman. During this time he participated in several International Music Courses lead by the well-known German Mandolinist Gertrud Tröster, like the International Guitar weeks Zwolle (Netherlands) in 1997 and the Schweinfurter Seminar (Germany) in 1999.
In 2000 Sebastiaan de Grebber graduated in Music education and attended the prestigious International 'Raffaele Calace Concorso per Mandolino Solo´ in Bologna (Italy) where he was the youngest amongst the finalists. The contest was organized by the Federazione Mandolinistica Italiana (FMI) and the European Guitar and Mandolin Association (EGMA). A year later, in 2001 Sebastiaan finished his principal subject, the study of the Mandolin, at the Constantijn Huygens Music High School in Zwolle and received his Bachelor Degree Mandolin.
As a versatile musician he was asked to join diverse ensembles for contemporary music to perform new compositions, like for instance with the ´K2 Ensemble´ for Contemporary music, in the composition ´Trail´ composed by the Dutch composer Robert Heppener and the ´Newman Ensemble´ lead by Ab Sandbrink in the work ´Venus & Adonis´ composed by jet another Dutch composer, Theo Loevendie. Because of his striking performances and his success as a virtuoso on his instrument, Sebastiaan de Grebber is already recognised as one of the leading professional mandolinists in his home country the Netherlands. Internationally his career has started with successful concerts in Denmark, England, Belgium, Italy and Spain. Sebastiaan de Grebber performs on a Luigi Embergher/Giannino Cerrone 5bis concert mandolin built in 1956.
© Alex Timmerman.
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ME Het Consort te Weesp, o.v.v. CD 2.
