Desirée Scuccuglia (piano), Antonio Ceravolo (percussion), Orchestra Sinfonico di Roma/ Francesco La Vecchia  Naxos 8.572413  * * * * *

Who could have written the first work on this disc, a symphony that was completed the day before the composer’s 23rd birthday in 1906? It sounds like the work of a Russian who had come under the spell of Wagner and Richard Strauss. But it is, in fact, by an Italian, Alfredo Casella. And the second work, a concerto written in war-torn Europe of 1943, is by the same composer, though now speaking in dry, chopping rhythms that are modernistically infused with the flavour of the baroque. The romanticism of the symphony is unalloyed, and the work is paced and orchestrated with real mastery. The astringency of the concerto is as fully embraced. The performances under Francesco La Vecchia paint a vital picture of a composer who seems to have been an incorrigible follower of fashion. See url.ie/57c6