The album of the day: Petrin/Trovesi/Maras, “Vaghissimo portrait”

Umberto Petrin/Gianluigi Trovesi/Fulvio Maras, “Vaghissimo Ritratto” (Cd ECM 1983)

Umberto Petrin is a shy musician, on a personal level and also in front of the piano keyboard. An acute connoisseur of the work of Thelonious Monk, to whom he has dedicated several projects, he is at ease both with the rabidly free atmospheres of the Italian Instabile Orchestra and with the scents of Brazil (if you still find him around, listen to one of his delicious album entitled “Reunião”, created together with the accordionist Renato Borghetti).

Inclined towards a complex but not self-referential pianism, Petrin demonstrates in this recent trio recording with Gianluigi Trovesi (clarinet) and Fulvio Maras (percussion) that he has further strings to his bow, showing off a very delicate touch and a decidedly surprising harmonic transparency. “Vaghissimo Ritratto” is an album with chamber-like sounds, devoid of spectacular effects, suspended on the edge of intimacy, where slight hints to the jazz tradition or that of classical music (in particular that of the ancient madrigalists) are enough to create a highly refined discourse. and sensitivity.

The discreet use of electronics adds only a few touches of estranged colour, but the charm of the album lies precisely in being a totally acoustic dialogue where the three soloists listen to each other and each make the suggestions born from the other collaborators reverberate in their own instrument.

Petrin also mentions passages that recall the languor of Satie’s “Gymnopediès” (slow dances with a ritual and suspended character) to suddenly move on to more spirited moments which however never take over. Trovesi’s C clarinet is an instrument that was born in the bands, with a sanguine and extroverted sound, yet this time Gianluigi keeps it in check by extracting phrases of diaphanous transparency dealing with his own compositions and those of his other two colleagues, but also with the immortal melodies of Palestrina, Monteverdi, Marenzio, Lasso, to whom themes by Tenco and Brel are proposed in contrast.

This album requires time, it must be savored by emerging from the frenzy of radio playlists and the fragmentation of listening on MP3 players, as well as from the banal use in the background of too much of today’s production: you have to carefully observe every detail, listen to its breath to be repaid until the end. background from its beauty.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.