Alberto Curci: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G minor, Op. 33

Alberto Curci (1886-1973)

Violin Concerto No. 3 in G minor, Op. 33

1. Allegro appasionato 0:00
2. Andante cantabile 6:27
3. Allegro 12:16

Franco Gulli, violin
Studio Orchestra
Franco Capuana, conductor

Alberto Curci (1886 - 1973) was born in Naples, (the chief town of region Campania, Italy), and studied violin with the Master A.Ferni. In 1904 he graduated from the Neapolitan "San Pietro a Majella" Conservatory. The following year he went to Berlin to specialize under the guidance of Joseph Joachim and soon he began a swift and brilliant career, giving concerts for several years in the main European towns, the Dutch Indies and the East. On his return to Italy, Alberto devoted himself to the didactic career and he gained, owing to competitions, the violin teaching posts in Palermo and in Parma. Afterwards, Francesco Cilea, director of the "San Pietro a Majella" Conservatory of Naples, appointed him full professor of violin, without competition. Since then, Alberto spent 40 years moulding a crowd of remarkable violinists, both teachers and concert artists, including Aldo Pavanelli and Angelo Gaudino. In 1919, Alberto, with his brother Alfredo and the Master Oreste de Rubertis, set up a very noble initiative: the establishment of the "Friends of Music" Association, which was subsidized for patronage purposes by the "Curci Musical House". Among the pianists who were invited by the institution there were: Eugène D'Albert, Wihelm Bachaus, Artur Schnabel, Carlo Zecchi, Edwin Fischer, Walter Gieseking, Leonid Kreutzer, Leopold Godowski, Alexander Borowski, Alfredo Casella, Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco, Ernesto Consolo, Alfred Cortot, Arthur Rubinstein, Rudolff Serkin. Among the violinists: Carl Flesch, Ferenc von Vecscey, Arrigo Serato, Fritz Kreisler, Adolph Busch, Mario Corti, Remy Principe, Jascha Heifetz, Florizel von Reuter, Gioconda de Vito. Among the cellists: Arnold Földesy, Arturo Bonucci, Julius Doktor, Emmanuel Feuermann, Gaspar Cassadò, and among the groups: the Busch Quartet, the Budapest Quartet, the Consolo-Serato-Bonucci Trio.