LORENZO FERRERO (b.1951): Works for Orchestra - 4 Modern Dances, Intermezzo Notturno from Mare Nostro, Parodia, Paesaggio con Figura, My Blues.

Description: This immensely enjoyable disc showcases the refined and elegant work of a composer who, with a background in psychology and philosophy, and a wide and eclectic range of interests, appears to have made an especial effort to discover the factors that make people enjoy music - regardless of genre - and synthesize them into an idiom of his own. The fact that he is the author of a seminal book on the elegance and unequivocal presentation of musical notation (which should perhaps be required reading for a rather large number of contemporary composers) points to the meticulous skill with which he blends his diverse sources, from classical and romantic models through various forms of popular music, into a sophisticated, instantly likeable, neo-tonal idiom. The substantial suite of dances borrows from the conventions of jazz, new age electro-pop, rock and disco (which reveals some common ground with minimalism), without sounding like any of these, but forming a hugely appealing set of toe-tapping dances that is entirely unironic and totally suited to the concert hall. The delicious Parodia applies the idea of Renaissance "parody" to the band Depeche Mode's "Behind the Wheel". It sounds like Michael Nyman in a really good mood. Paesaggio - Landscape with Figures - is a neo-romantic scene, suggestive of a film scene depicting some tragic drama. My Blues is not an authentic blues, but rather a melancholy slow neo-late-romantic piece that captures the spirit of the blues in repeating variations on a sombre, songlike theme. I Pomeriggi Musicali; Carlo Boccadoro.