The Quintetto Chigiano or Chigi Quintet was an Italian

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

comprising a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

with pianoforte, founded in 1939 and active until 1966, when it was reformed as the Chigiano String Sextet. Led by

Riccardo Brengola Riccardo Brengola (18 March 1917 – 16 May 2004) was an Italian violinist and professor. He was associated with early Italian chamber music and with the performance of contemporary Italian classical music. For several decades, he was the Profess ...

, it was first assembled by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini out of his Accademia Musicale Chigiana at Siena in Tuscany, Italy, but developed a worldwide acclaim.

Personnel

The personnel of the Quintet were as follows: * 1st violin:

(leader) * 2nd violin: Mario Benvenuti - from 1955, Angelo Stefanato - from 1960, Arnaldo Apostoli * viola:

Giovanni Leone Giovanni Leone (; 3 November 1908 – 9 November 2001) was an Italian politician, jurist, and university professor. A founding member of the Christian Democracy (DC), Leone served as the President of Italy from December 1971 until June 1978. H ...

* cello: Lino Filippini * piano:

Sergio Lorenzi Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

Formation

The Quintetto Chigiano was founded in Siena, Italy, in 1939 and took its name from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, which was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini.Cesare Orselli, 'CHIGI SARACINI (Chigi degli Useppi Saracini Lucherini), Guido', in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol. 24 (Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana 1980), read online a
''Treccani''
(In Italian) It was one of the rare permanent quintets in the world. The Quintet, which was drawn by Chigi Saracini from among the very talented students of the Academy (who all taught as professors there), had the use of the four best instruments from the Count's private collection, namely a

Camillo Camilli Camillo Camilli (c. 1704 – 1754) was a notable master luthier of the 18th century. The instruments of Camilli, most of which he made in Mantua, in northern Italy, are prized by string musicians to this day. He was a pupil of Zanotti, but was mai ...

and a Guadagnini violin, an Amati viola and a Stradivarius violoncello. The first violin, Riccardo Brengola, won the Geneva International Music Competition in 1946, and in that year Count Chigi-Saracini appointed him principal of the Chamber Music courses at the Accademia Chigiana, a position which he held until 1997. By 1956, the Quintet had recently given more than a thousand concerts in countries including Italy, Germany, England, France, Holland, Belgium and Spain, had taken part in the major European festivals, and had newly completed a highly successful tour of Central and South America: its repertoire reflected Brengola's preoccupations both with early Italian chamber music and with the works of contemporary composers. At about this time, the 2nd violin, Mario Benvenuti (1915-1995), (who graduated in violin (1935) and viola (1936) at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, before proceeding to the Accademia Chigiana), left the Quintet to join the Collegium Musicum Italicum (later ''Virtuosi di Roma'') chamber orchestra. In 1962 he became the creator and coordinator of the Città di Vittorio Veneto Violin Competition, and in 1966 re-joined the Chigiano ensemble at the first viola desk when the group was reformed as a string sextet.'Mario Benvenuti the founder of the competition'
Concorso di Violino Città di Vittorio Veneto
website (recovered 31 July 2022). See als

Benvenuti was replaced as second violin by Angelo Stefanato. In 1957 the Quintetto Chigiano completed an acclaimed tour of Southern Africa promoted by the musicologist

Hans G. Adler Hans Georg Adler (1904–1979) was a German musicologist, collector, and classical music promoter in South Africa. Early life Adler was born in Germany into a family interested and involved in classical music. His mother, Johanna Nathan, was a ...

. The Chigiano made its Boston debut in 1961 for the

Peabody Mason Concert Benefactor The name Peabody Mason comes from Miss Fanny Peabody Mason, who until her death in 1948 was an active patron of music both in the United States and abroad. Her musical interests were piano, singing and chamber music. Concert series ...

series.

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

dedicated his Piano Quintet op. 29 (1963) to the Chigiano, who gave the first performance at the

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...

in that year. In 1964 the Quintet as a body was teaching the course in chamber music at the Accademia Chigiana. Sergio Lorenzi, a distinguished pianist in his own right, can be heard accompanying the cellist Enrico Mainardi in "live" off-air performances broadcast from Reichssender Berlin in 1942. During the 1960s he made several recordings of pianoforte works for four hands, including the sonatas of Muzio Clementi and works by

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

, with Gino Gorini. The International Chamber Music Competition "Concorso Sergio Lorenzi" at Trieste is named for him. Giovanni Leone was a very highly esteemed viola player for many years: following a car accident he gave up performing in concerts but continued his work as a teacher. In 1966, following the death of Count Chigi Saracini, the Quintet was reformed as a string sextet ensemble, the Sestetto Chigiano d'Archi. In addition to Brengola, this consisted of Felice Cusano, later Giovanni Guglielmo (second violin), Mario Benvenuti and Tito Riccardi (violas), and Alain Meunier and Adriano Vendramelli (cellos). The Sextet began touring the United States and Germany in 1967, with the aim of making the public familiar with late 18th century chamber music. Its instruments included violins by

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Pol ...

and one of the

Testore Testore is an Italian surname. Among the most famous Testore was a family of violin makers, active from the late seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century in Milan. Their reputation at the time was not high, as their instruments were known ...

family, violas by

Nicolò Amati Nicola Amati, Nicolò Amati or Nicolao Amati (, ; 3 September 1596 – 12 April 1684) was an Italian master luthier from Cremona, Italy. Amati is one of the most well-known luthiers from the Casa Amati (House of Amati). He was the teacher of ...

and Pietro Guarneri, and cellos by David Techler and

Lorenzo Storioni Lorenzo Storioni (1744 — 1816) is considered one of the last of the ''classic'' Cremonese master violin makers/ luthiers of the 18th century. Born a generation after Stradivarius and Guarnerius, with no direct link to the great tradition, vio ...

Recordings

The Quintet made several recordings for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

: * Dvořák, Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (released in 1950, Decca LXT2519) *

Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also

* Franc (disambiguation) * Franks * Frank (disambiguation) * Fran ...

, Piano Quintet in F minor (1879) (released in June 1950, Decca LXT2520) *

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journal ...

, Piano Quintet No. 1 in C minor (1923) (released in 1951, Decca LXT2626) * Brahms, Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 (released in 1952, Decca LXT2687) * Shostakovich, Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 (released in 1952, Decca LXT2749)Layton, Robert
Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 & Quintet

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, July 1983 *

Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

, Piano Quintet in A major, Op. posth. and Quintet in D minor (released in 1954, Decca LXT2841) * Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Quintet op. 143 for Guitar and String Quartet,

Andres Segovia Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

with strings (Brengola; Benvenuti; Leone; Filippini) of the Chigiano Quintet (released in 1956, Decca 9832)

References

Sources

* E. Sackville-West and D. Shawe-Taylor, The Record Year 2 (Collins, London 1953). * E.M.G., The Art of Record-Buying 1960 (London 1960). * E.M.G., ''The Monthly Newsletter'' (London) * Ephemera: Printed flyer for

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

concert of

, Brahms and Dvořák. (early 1950s).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintetto Chigiano Musical groups established in 1939 Italian musicians