Review

Various
Italian Arias :

Arranged by Keith Terrett


Halberstadt, , Germany
Publisher: Musikverlag Bruno Uetz
Date of Publication: 2012

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1858-1919) Vesti La Giubba  & Mattinata; Eduardo Di Capua (1864-1917) O Sole Mio; Friedrich von Flotow (1812-1883) M’Appari Tutt’ Amor; Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Una Furtiva Lagrima; Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) Quando Me’n Vo  & Nessun Dorma; Ernesto De Curtis (1875-1937) Torna e Surriento. 

The ranges of these eight arias span from O Sole Mio c–e-flat1 to Quando me’n vo e-flat–bflat1. Most are well known and rich in sentiment and their tessitura lies in the most expressive register of the trombone. All, of course, need a good legato vocal styling and expressive rubato, which will come naturally if you know the lyrics. However, put into it all the feeling that you want to, and still, when you play something like Torna e Surriento or O Sole Mio, made most famous by Elvis Presley, you do feel that without the words, something is ineluctably missing.

In my opinion, the least successful transcription is the aria from von Flotow’s Martha, which isn’t really Italian anyway; the hymn tune it might remind you of was written about forty years later. The selection I’ve most enjoyed playing is Quando Me’n Vo (Musetta’s Waltz from La Bohème), which happens to be the only one not originally written for a tenor!

Either for recital piece or encore, or just party piece, there will be something here that everyone will like. The transcriptions are well done and publishing is of high quality.

-Keith Davies Jones
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada