By JOHN HARLOW | Editor-in-Chief
Giovanni “Nino” Roto was recognized as a musical child prodigy at the age of 11—a bit late by Mozartian standards but at least it did not screw him up. He went on to write acclaimed music at a furious rate from the 1930s until his death in 1979.
And, yes, he was bullied at school—probably for that hair style.
His moneymaker was Italian movie scores for friends such as Fellini and Zeffirelli, composing 10 scores per year. (Beat that, Palisadian Randy “Slacker” Newman!)
Yet since the Milanese maestro passed, the spotlight has focused more on his opera and ballet—and his more intimate chamber works, which is one reason why his trio for flute, violin and piano is the opener for Chamber Music Palisades season finale at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday, May 8.
It is a challenging work of many musical moods, but expect Susan Greenberg on flute, Sarah Thornblade on violin, David Speltz on cello and Delores Stevens on piano—which, from the first flurry of notes, leads Roto’s 1958 work.
The evening will be completed with trios by Bertrand Hummel who, like Roto, created at least one lasting oratorio, and Russian romantic Anton Arensky.
Potentially the most bracing piece will be the premiere of a quartet from New York contemporary composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum.
Like Roto, she writes for cinema and also is a Grammy Award-winning engineer in the studio.
She “makes noise” with her spouse, Laura Karpman, who has composed the scores for recent films such as “The Beguiled” with former Palisadian Nicole Kidman and Eleanor Coppola’s “Paris Can Wait.”
So, one way or another, it should be an evening of musical drama.
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