Cesare Ciardi
(28 June 1818 – 13 June 1877) was an Italian flautist and composer.
Flute Concerto in D-major, Op.129 (1859)
Picture: Thomas Miles Richardson Jr. - A View of Bellagio looking across Lake Como (1861)
Cesare Ciardi (28 June 1818 -- 13 June 1877) was an Italian flautist and composer.
Work: Flute Concerto in D-major, Op.129 (1859) revised and orchestrated by Roberto Fabbriciani.
Mov.I: Allegro non troppo 00:00
Mov.II: Andante sostenuto 09:02
Mov.III: Allegro scherzando 13:43
Flute: Roberto Fabbriciani
Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica del Friuli Venezia Giulia
Conductor: Stefan Fraas
Cesare Ciardi composed only one flute concerto, the Gran Concerto in D, Op. 129, for flute and piano. He recast the work for flute and orchestra, but it was never published in this version and no copy has yet been found. Op. 129 was written in about 1859, when Ciardi had already been in St. Petersburg for some time, and it brings out all the qualities peculiar to the flute, from its sublime lyrical expressivity to its dazzling agility, giving the soloist wonderful opportunities for virtuosic display. The first movement is in sonata form, and the flute part provides highly inventive variations on the theme. There follow an Andante sostenuto in F major and an Allegro scherzoso finale, marked by an overall lightness and melodic fantasy which make it a delight to hear.
Life
Born at Prato to a Tuscan family, Ciardi eventually settled in 1853 in Russia, where he was appointed in 1862 as professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and became Tchaikovsky's flute teacher. Ciardi himself played as first flute in the orchestras of the Imperial Theatres in Saint Petersburg, including the orchestra of the Imperial Italian Opera and of that of the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. He died at Strel'na and was succeeded in his orchestral role by Ernesto Köhler.
Ciardi possessed many talents and was also a sculptor and caricaturist.