The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar - Instrumentation for chamber orchestra by Lorenzo Ferrero

In this "Merry Widow" there is a skilfully studied consistency of sound and image... compared with the original, one notices a systematic pruning of all tinsel. The registers employed are only the extreme ones: bituminous basses from the cellos over which the famous melodies glide defencelessly, entrusted to the solo of a violin or the homely trilling of bells... mocking grimaces of flutes and piccolos that insinuate the fearless informality of c... more

In this "Merry Widow" there is a skilfully studied consistency of sound and image... compared with the original, one notices a systematic pruning of all tinsel. The registers employed are only the extreme ones: bituminous basses from the cellos over which the famous melodies glide defencelessly, entrusted to the solo of a violin or the homely trilling of bells... mocking grimaces of flutes and piccolos that insinuate the fearless informality of contemporary language between the staves.
Enzo Restagno - "Stampa Sera" - 21 March 1983
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