Mariateresa Dellaborra

Concerto in Re maggiore

A rare and singular example of a concerto for two flutes composed in the first two decades of the 19th century, the piece displays the light-hearted virtuosity of Mercadantes writing for solo instruments. The two flutes are treated equally and are given identical passages both in the two outer movements and in the central Largo, a truly lyrical oasis. Making reference to a mainly French tradition (Devienne, Ducreux and Berbiguier), but also showing aclear influence of his Neapolitan forerunners (Cimarosa) and above all taking full advantage of two fellow students particularly skilled in lively performance, Mercadante wrote this piece in 1816 while studying under Zingarelli, and in tackling thistype of writing was able to double his inventiveness and offer a model for flautists of the generation immediately after him (Rabboni and Briccialdi in primis). The score was written rather hastily and especially in the third movement, which following a usage consolidated in Mercadantes work is a Polacca, the writing is particularly scanty. We can nevertheless recognize his usual happy melodic vein, theclarity of structure, the variety of technical figures given to the two soloists, suitably sustained by an orchestra consisting of two oboes, two horns and the quintet of strings, in which the presence of the double bass is explicitly specified. The publication conforms to the canons established for the complete critical edition of Mercadantes compositions for flute and orchestra. Therefore, the manuscript that hands down the concerto for two flutes, the autograph kept in the library of theSan Pietro a Majella Music Conservatory in Naples, is described in precise detail in the introduction and apparatus and is reconstructed with similar meticulous care.