PROGRAM NOTES  

 

Italian Rhapsody is a collection of Italian folk songs and  operatic excerpts scored with Italian gusto! Solo Clarinet opens this work

with a certain Mafioso flair developing into a devious rendition of 

"The Italian Wedding Song  #2"

(The Wedding Tarantella).

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   "Caderna," composed by A.D. Arcangelo is presented in both an Italian street band and contemporary march style.

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Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme  "Quando m'en vo" (Musetta's Waltz) makes an appearance as an accordion player serenading young lovers in the moonlight.

 

The finale features Luigi Denza’s "Funiculi! Funicula!," Giuseppi Verdi’s  Il Trovatore (Act II - Anvil Chorus) and Gioachino Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

 

  Italian operatic and folk song musical quotes are interlaced throughout the work. See if you can find them all! Scored with an Italian passion for family and feasting,

Italian Rhapsody is definitely one very Spicy Meatball!