Elena Moșuc – L’amore è poesia

Description

L’AMORE È POESIA (”love is poetry”) is a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, built around four vocalises and an orchestral interlude. The various pieces were written over the course of nearly a decade, and at very different stages of my life. But they all are connected with each other by the underlying theme set forth in the title.

The compositions feature a wordless soprano, even though I was urged by several of my friends to use a libretto at first. However, it occurred to me early on that the music could be vocal but without relying on words. Not only might a written text present a distraction for the audience, but even more so its rhythmic pattern would have interfered too much with the organic flow of the composition. Also, given the subject matter, I strongly felt that the music should speak for itself.

The pieces are written in a very lush romantic style, both lyrical in expression and epic in scale. At times notably nostalgic, sometimes opulent but never cloying. The soaring melodies are clearly a nod to the likes of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Max Steiner, whose film music from the golden era of Hollywood has always been an inspiration.

This world premiere recording has been a long time in the making and I feel very fortunate to have received the generous support of so many incredibly talented people along the way: soprano Elena Moșuc is performing under the direction of conductor John Scott and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The recording took place at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.

Flavio Motalla, Los Angeles 2016