Francesco Nicolosi
Clara Schumann – Fanny Mendelssohn –
Germaine Tailleferre
Does a “feminine” music exist? This
question, less trivial than it may seem, addresses
an issue that from the world of art trespasses
into psychology and science, where it could be
reformulated as follows: are the creative processes
of the female universe different? And if so, in
what way? The presentation entitled Nel segno
della donna, created by Francesco Nicolosi
and performed in theatres such as the San Carlo
in Naples and the Bellini in Catania, does not
expect to answer this question, but rather to
show the best results of artistic creation by
three women who lived in the shadow of more famous
partners. These musicians are Fanny Mendelssohn
and Clara Schumann, respectively the sister and
the wife of two great musicians of German Romanticism,
and Germaine Tailleferre, a representative of
the Parisian avant-garde in the early 20th century,
the founder and a member of Les Six.
The trios in this programme express three different
periods of their lives as women and composers:
Clara’s piece was composed when she was
young, Fanny’s when she was fully mature,
and Germaine wrote hers in 1978 when she was 85
years old. Nel segno della donna is presented
by pianist Francesco Nicolosi, violinist Rodolfo
Bonucci and the cellist Manuela Albano, who have
recorded for Naxos chamber music by Clara Schumann.
