Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
MV Cremona

The Voice of Stradivari - Giovanni Gnocchi (cello), Alessand

$24.99 Only 2 left

Details

Composer
Jerome Ducros, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, Julius Klengel, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn, David
Artist
Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
Format
CD
Label
MV Cremona
Released
Aug 07, 2026
Catalog #
MVC025070
UPC
8032632230700

About

Antonio Stradivari's 1700 'ex Cristiani-Stauffer' cello, considered to be one of the master's finest works, was purchased by the Walter Stauffer Musicology Center in Cremona. It is now on display at the Violin Museum in Cremona. The history of this cello, though at times uncertain, suddenly becomes clear when it comes to Lisa Cristiani, a Parisian cellist who acquired the instrument, definitively linking her name to Stradivari and the cello. Lisa died very young in 1853 at just 26 years old, a fleeting star on the musical scene of her time: in just a few years, she enchanted audiences with her extraordinary cello. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy dedicated his Song Without Words, Op. 109, to her. But today, you can hear 'The Voice of Stradivari,' the voice of this precious cello, on this CD released by the Italian label MVcremona. The excellent performers are the cellist Giovanni Gnocchi, born in Cremona like Stradivari's cello, and the pianist Alessandro Stella. According to the renowned Italian critic Angelo Foletto, on this CD, 'Gnocchi exploits with loving interpretative skill and virtuosic ease every quality of the 18th-century 'Stauffer ex Cristiani' Stradivari cello, constructing a listening adventure of intriguing poetic subtlety and an intelligent assortment of accents.' SUONARE news, dicembre 2025 This cd includes some pieces written by cellist-composers themselves (Popper and Klengel). Other pieces were transcribed by famous concert performers and cello virtuosos of modern and contemporary times (Piatigorsky, Schiff, Isserlis). Others were dedicated by composers to their cellist friends, as in the case of Dvorak and Hanus Wihan, Liszt and Bernhard Cossmann, the living composer Ducros and Jerome Pernoo and Mendelssohn, who dedicated his Romances sans paroles op. 109 to Lisa Cristiani, then owner of this beautiful Stradivari. The final piece is an Italian masterpiece composed by Gioacchino Rossini: 'Une larme, theme et variations'. The combination of elegiac cantabile and explosive virtuosity encapsulates the characteristics that have inspired the musical choices in this CD. Rediscovered only in recent decades, it belongs to the Peches de vieillesse, the 'sins of old age' as Rossini called the many compositions he wrote in his later years and never published because, as he said, 'I do not publish anything; I only write because I cannot do anything else'. Composed in 1858, it offers the musician all the most typical elements of Rossini's genial style.

Tracklist 16 tracks

  1. 1 Encore 07:23
    Track
    1
    Title
    Encore
    Duration
    07:23
    Composer
    Jérôme Ducros
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  2. 2 Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words), Op. 109, MWV Q34 04:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words), Op. 109, MWV Q34
    Duration
    04:29
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  3. 3 Scherzo for Cello and Piano, Op. 6 05:13
    Track
    3
    Title
    Scherzo for Cello and Piano, Op. 6
    Duration
    05:13
    Composer
    Julius Klengel
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  4. 4 2 Poèmes, Op. 32: No. 1 in F-Sharp Major (arr. G. Piatigorsky for cello and piano) 03:55
    Track
    4
    Title
    2 Poèmes, Op. 32: No. 1 in F-Sharp Major (arr. G. Piatigorsky for cello and piano)
    Duration
    03:55
    Composer
    Alexander Scriabin
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  5. 5 Scherzo-tarantelle, Op. 16 (arr. H. Schiff for cello and piano) 05:02
    Track
    5
    Title
    Scherzo-tarantelle, Op. 16 (arr. H. Schiff for cello and piano)
    Duration
    05:02
    Composer
    Henryk Wieniawski
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  6. 6 Assai tranquillo in B Minor, MWV Q25 02:05
    Track
    6
    Title
    Assai tranquillo in B Minor, MWV Q25
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Felix Mendelssohn
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  7. 7 Klid (Silent Woods), Op. 68, No. 5, B. 173 05:19
    Track
    7
    Title
    Klid (Silent Woods), Op. 68, No. 5, B. 173
    Duration
    05:19
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  8. 8 Romance, Op. 69 03:30
    Track
    8
    Title
    Romance, Op. 69
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  9. 9 Papillon, Op. 77 02:54
    Track
    9
    Title
    Papillon, Op. 77
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  10. 10 Serenade (Spanish Dance), Op. 54, No. 2: II. Serenade 02:59
    Track
    10
    Title
    Serenade (Spanish Dance), Op. 54, No. 2: II. Serenade
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    David Popper
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  11. 11 Morceaux de salon, Op. 10: No. 6. Romance in F Minor (arr. for cello and piano) 02:10
    Track
    11
    Title
    Morceaux de salon, Op. 10: No. 6. Romance in F Minor (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:10
    Composer
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  12. 12 Recitative 02:57
    Track
    12
    Title
    Recitative
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  13. 13 Romanze 03:44
    Track
    13
    Title
    Romanze
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  14. 14 Romans (Romance) (arr. for cello and piano) 02:07
    Track
    14
    Title
    Romans (Romance) (arr. for cello and piano)
    Duration
    02:07
    Composer
    Alexander Scriabin
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  15. 15 Thème 03:51
    Track
    15
    Title
    Thème
    Duration
    03:51
    Composer
    Gioachino Rossini
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella
  16. 16 10. Une larme: Variations 07:23
    Track
    16
    Title
    10. Une larme: Variations
    Duration
    07:23
    Composer
    Gioachino Rossini
    Performer
    Giovanni Gnocchi, Alessandro Stella