Giorgio Gaslini

Storie di Sto gathers four musical fables by Giorgio Gaslini, the Milanese composer, conductor and pianist (1929 to 2014), written on texts by Sergio Tofano. The words come from Tofano's STO, I cavoli a merenda, published by Adelphi, and each fable is scored for a speaking voice and a different small group of players. This is the first recording of the cycle. It shows Gaslini away from his jazz records, writing theatre music for narrators, singers and a chamber ensemble around stories told aloud.

The recording was made in Reggio Emilia in May 1997 by the Icarus Ensemble, with Gaslini directing and Kumi Uchimoto as maestro collaboratore. Milla Sannoner and Riccardo Peroni are the narrators, Margherita Settimo the soprano, and a small choir of seven voices joins them in two of the pieces. Among the players are clarinettist Mirco Ghirardini, pianist Marco Pedrazzini and others on flute, brass, strings and percussion. Uguccion della Stagnola invincibile capitano prigioniero di se stesso, at eighteen minutes, sets the narrator and choir against clarinet, trumpet, trombone, string trio and percussion. Perchè a Montesaponetta si camminava così pares the group down to a singing female voice, flute, viola and cello, while Checco... povero Checco... uses only violin, clarinet and piano under the spoken text. The last fable tells of a king who wanted cherries without stones and the wise man who mocked him. It uses the largest forces of the set, with flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, strings, piano, percussion and choir. Editing was done at Studio Arena in Milan.

CD on La Bottega Discantica, catalogue number DISCANTICA 42, released in 1998, about sixty-five minutes.