10 March 2002: "Maestro Cataldo in Japan. On the podium for the Verdi gala".
From "Giornale di Sicilia".
PALERMO International commitments for Giuseppe Castaldo.
After the stormy end to his mandate as conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, to which he was nominated by the then president of the organisation Alberto Alessi, the Palermitan composer and conductor who, since 1982, has been instructor at the Chair of Percussion Instruments at the "Vincenzo Bellini" Music Conservatory of Palermo, is preparing to fly to Singapore where, on the 19th and 20th April, he will be taking part in the gala dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi, which will see him on the podium of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra alongside the Georgian soprano Eteri Lamoris and the tenor Sergio Panajia.
An appointment with Verdi's most famous arias and overtures to follow the Palm Beach Opera production of Madame Butterfly which, last January, saw Cataldo in Florida conducting Puccini's opera, staged under the direction of Renata Scotto and with the young Japanese soprano, Chiho Oiwa, considered one of the most promising up-and-coming singers of her country, in the title role. "It was a success," says Cataldo, showing off the overseas reviews. "And the outstanding direction of Renanta Scotto was a big surprise. Great soprano that she is, she never handicapped the music."
So from faraway shores to pastures closer to home and richer in tradition. In December, Giuseppe Cataldo will be in Germany with the Münchner Symphoniker with whom he will present Cherubini's Mass. But first, a Japanese Bohème awaits him. The date has not yet been fixed. And no date has been fixed either for Verdi's Alzira, to be put on for the Teatro Nazionale by the Opera of Brasilia.
29 January 2002: "Young Japanese soprano soars as Madama Butterfly".
from an article on the Palm Beach Opera's Butterfly which appeared in the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel / Arts & Entertainment
"Even if the Palm Beach Opera lacks the numbers to make Puccini's largest climaxes really resound, conductor Giuseppe Cataldo led a terrific performance.
Eliciting vital playing of great convintion. Cataldo paced the score masterfully, letting details emerge cleanly, while building climaxes superbly, as with his skilful handling of the surging waves of love duet". (By Lawrence A. Johnson)
29 Gennaio 2002: Extract from an article on the Palm Beach Opera's Butterfly which appeared in the Miami Herald.
…"Palm Beach Opera's Butterfly conducted by Giuseppe Cataldo was better than Florida Grand Opera's earlier season." (By James Roos)
27 January 2002: "Madama Butterfly soars with riveting attention to detail".
Extract from an article on the Palm Beach Opera's Butterfly which appeared in the
Palm Beach Daily News / Opera Review
"But all in all, it was a very satisfying production, both visually and vocally. The costumes were lovely. The lighting was exquisite. The staging was immaginative and well executed.
And the orchestra provided substantial support under guest conductor Giuseppe Cataldo". (By Earl Cunnigham)
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2001
8 January 2001: "Right tempo subject to taste"
Extract from an article on the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra which appeared in the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
"Tempo played a prominent role in the Honolulu Symphony's latest concert, "The Italians are Coming" featuring pianist Marisa Tanzini and guest conductor Giuseppe Cataldo, both from Palermo, Italy…
…Cataldo displayed an excellent grasp of Mendelssohn's style and structure in the second half, conducting Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, No.4.
His homophonic approach in sculpting the orchestra yielded a light, clear touch. Exhilarating moments abounded: the violins' opening theme, the violas' theme and the cellos' and basses' firm "walking bass" in the second movement; the horn choir of the third movement; the scurrying winds and strings of the fourth.
Cataldo's tempos seemed to fit, which raises the conundrum: did an excellent interpretation make his tempos seem right, or did the right tempos make the interpretation seem excellent?". (By Ruth O. Bingham)
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2000
4 December 2000: "Storms of applause dampen Four Seasons"
Extract from an article on the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra which appeared
in the Hamilton Spectator.
"Maestro Cataldo kept Wood's lovely but delicate sound well in the foreground but that meant everything had to be kept miniature and distant rather than making Vivaldi's wonderful musical painting vividly immediate and compelling.
That said, both Wood and Cataldo shaped the music beautifully and most persuasively and the orchestra's principals, Mikhail Brat, Mia King and Jack Mendelssohn weighed in to great effect.
Normally, when people clap between movements, it pleases me, it means new people have joined the audience and that's all to the good. But a large, persistent and obstinate section of the audience didn't just applaud each season, they applauded every movement of the season, so instead of just four seasons, we got about three year's worth.
So persistent was this claque that one feared we'd get applause between each thunderclap in summer's storm.
The highlight of the evening was the rarely heard Cherubini Symphony in D, a piece of enormous charm that stood out even in a program of very charming works.
Here Cataldo was free to shape the music and to demand courage, passion and commitment and he did it splendidly.
Cataldo, from Palermo, Italy is a graceful and helpful musician, who has worldwide experience and a profound interest in new music. Perhaps, one day, he could bring us some." (By hugh Fraser)
13 October 2000: Extract from an article on the Münchner Symphoniker which appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
… With Dvorak's New World Symphony, came a return to something well-known and this was conductor Giuseppe Cataldo's great moment. At first, the conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo limited his expressiveness with the primary objective of keeping the members of the Münchner Symphoniker tightly together as regards progression and rhythm.
How right he was to do this was demonstrated by the manifold possibilities of expressive reinforcement and dynamic development on which he could draw;
For example, his brief thrust forward before the repetition of the first movement thus took on immense dramatic significance.
.....And the members of the Symphoniker with its instrument sections that flowed together with mellowness, precision and a great deal of "oomph", achieved a lot more from this well done piece of work than is normally the case: thunderous applause for a performance that kept us on the edge of our seats right through. (By Johannes Rubner)
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Previous years
September 1997: Palermo: The Teatro Massimo Summer Season Presents: Opera
Laboratory: Tribute To Donizetti And Menotti.
16 March 1996: The Chamber Orchestra of Palermo/ Xylophone and Magic.
22 April 1995: A Velvety-Toned Double-Bill of Mozart: A Magnificent
Evening.
19 July 1991: "Stravinsky according to Lollo Franco and Cataldo".
May 1991: "Picture Number Two" by Giuseppe Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa.
June 1988: "Picture Number One" by Giuseppe Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa.
31 May 1988: Today sees the presentation of Giuseppe Cataldo's new record "SINCRONIE".
September 1997: Palermo: The Teatro Massimo Summer Season Presents: Opera Laboratory: Tribute To Donizetti And Menotti.
From "L'opera".
"Il Campanello" conducted by Giuseppe Cataldo
Extract: … I Pazzi per Progetto and Il Camapanello, presented at the Villa Castelnuovo Palladium. Directed by Enzo Dara.
It was on the "Campanello" that the greatest expectations were focussed and Giuseppe Cataldo made his mark on the instrumentation with forceful incisiveness. Loredana Arcuri stood out among the cast, as did Alessandro Battiato for the boldness of his stage sets. (By Sara Patera)
16 March 1996: The Chamber Orchestra of Palermo/ Xylophone and Magic.
From "Il Mediterraneo".
…At the head of the Chamber Orchestra of Palermo, Giuseppe Cataldo admirably kept the lid on the striking, almost Prokofiev-esque style of the opening and closing movements of Toshiro Mayuzumi's concertino for xylophone and orchestra. The other two pieces in the programme were, however, more in keeping with an ambiance of full-on classicism: a piece of neo-classicism in Prokofiev's First Symphony and a truly classical piece in Haydn's Symphony No. 86 which found, in Cataldo, an austere interpretation, from the first 21 measures which then flowed with interpretative depth into the largo in G major; Cataldo gave his perfect orchestra a real boost with decisive spirit in the allegro; it was served up with vigorous tones, but with intense dramatic force. (By Sergio Albertini)
22 April 1995: A Velvety-Toned Double-Bill of Mozart: A Magnificent Evening
From "Il Mediterraneo".
Success. A fine rehearsal by the Chamber Orchestra of Palermo, conducted by Giuseppe Cataldo. A Dvorak Serenade on the programme as well.
A cleanness of sound straight from the textbook; agility of metronomic precision; and all without any heel-dragging. For the Chamber Orchestra of Palermo, conducted Thursday evening by Giuseppe Cataldo , it was success, not only in terms of applause but primarily, and at long last, a musical success. Such a good rehearsal that we can afford to be hypercritical.
In order, then, the first piece on the programme, Mozart's divertimento in D major K136, seemed of dazzling brilliance: precision in the entrances and the codas, incisive passages, clearly-defined colours. Mozart again in the programme's second piece, the K414 concerto played by Giusi Groppuso, a pianist of with a perfect Mozart touch. Although very slightly nervous in the first movement, she gave us an exquisite rondo.
The orchestra gave the best of itself as well: impeccable entrances and Tommaso Santangelo's horn was warm and velvety.
It rounded off with a sorrowful serenade for strings by Antonin Dvorak which was restored to a more intimate and chamber-like dimension. Although we are not talking about chamber music here, we were able to savour the theme of the first movement, picked up again in he fifth, and a vaguely Roti-esque phrase in the fourth movement.
It was accentuated Romanticism, but never mellifluous. The participants in this rehearsal, all certainly worthy of esteem, were all young: starting with the pianist, barely twenty six years old, right up to Giuseppe Cataldo himself, a young up-and-coming conductor and holder of the percussion chair at the Palermo Conservatory.
And, finally, the orchestra itself in which, aside from he occasional musician "on loan", great enthusiasm and harmony spread in a way that was tangible.
These are the same members that you find in other small-town orchestras, that already had what they were performing as part of their repertoire. But on Thursday evening they put a lot more grit into it. (By Santi Centineo)
19 July 1991: "Stravinsky according to Lollo Franco and Cataldo"
From "Giornale di Sicilia"
… Histoire du Soldat which they are taking on tour at this precise moment in various Sicilian towns and which, a few evenings ago, was presented during he "Montepellegrino Festival '91" …
A single narrator, then, (Lollo Franco himself) who has taken on the commitment of playing all the parts, and the little instrumental ensemble (there are seven performers in all) as well as the conductor (who is Giuseppe Cataldo); no stage sets, no costumes, no miming.
… The merits of this production are, above all, in the musical performance which is, all things considered, straightforward. But when we are talking about a score like this one, full of potential traps, then that is already a great deal. (By Francesco Giambrone)
May 1991: "Picture Number Two" by Giuseppe Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa
From Musica Jazz - A monthly review of information and musical criticism -
Two years after the remarkable "Picture Number One", Giuseppe Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa have confirmed themselves as one of the most important partnerships in contemporary Italian jazz. Everything in this new record is nigh on perfection , also because the two Palermitan musicians are perfectionists as regards their preparatory work. The compositions have an evident internal coherence, beginning with Valeria Song, a ballad which, for logic and overall structure, sounds like it was conceived by a Benny Golson. The arrangements are invested with a certain complexity of design in order to establish cross-forms and medleys of clear vitality. This time, moreover, the choice of musicians has proved to be of importance. Cataldo and Costa went to Rome and recruited some of the most distinguished soloists around, which has made a major contribution to the increased mobility of the ensemble. An example is the track "Fast Food" which opens with a peculiar trombone duet, evolves into a sort of 1990's Salt Peanuts and finally soars into the most energetic swing.
We are talking in general about jazz that cannot be put into words; which takes in the most disparate experiences (from Gil Evans to the Jazz Messengers) to finish up, moreover, as a highly homogenous entity. (By Giuseppe Piacentino)
June 1988: "Picture Number One" by Giuseppe Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa
From "Musica Jazz".
I think that the force of this record, and it's not a negligible force, is to be found not in the solos but, rather in the writing. If you wanted, at any price, to find a term of comparison, then you would only need to mention one name: Horace Silver. Even if the music is considerably different, Cataldo and Costa's melodic invention is just as immediate, rich in flavour and highly vivacious. The racing opening track by Cataldo stands out in this respect, as does the "B" Suite written by Bonafede, the opening of which modulates on a persistent plafond of double bass and drums which sets the pace at the highest level. Thus the Palermitan duo have burst officially onto the jazz scene with an excellent offering. Besides, it is very difficult to find a septet capable of having the same impact as a big band. (By Giuseppe Piacentino)
31 May 1988: Today sees the presentation of Giuseppe Cataldo's new record "SINCRONIE".
From "Giornale di Sicilia".
Five images in music which have Sicily as their protagonist. The pieces run into each other like acts in a cosmic drama. Fire, air, water and earth caught between hate and love in a subterranean city.
Palermo - This afternoon at 5 o'clock in the Lapidi room of the Palazzo delle Aquile, the record "SINCRONIE" by the "Progetto Musica" group, directed by Giuseppe Cataldo and released by Centro Reinhardt, will be presented. Here, we are going to publish excerpts from an introductory article by Paolo Emilio Carapezza, which is printed on the record cover.
"There maybe weren't so many worthy composers in Palermo even during the golden age of the Renaissance and early Baroque when the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily, splendid with its sumptuous monuments.
Brand new works, composed between the spring of 1986 and the summer of 1997, of which five are in this collection, supervised by one the composers himself: Giuseppe Cataldo, virtuoso percussionist, conductor of the instrumental ensemble and even producer and sound engineer of this recording. It is precisely Cataldo's excellence as a percussionist that determined the common denominator of the pieces gathered here: the predomination of marimba and vibraphone in the first three and of heavier percussion in the other two.
Thus the five pieces run together like five acts of a cosmic drama, or five songs of an urbanistic sound-poem; one at a time, in fact, each is set to one of the four primordial elements, identified and classified by the eldest Sicilian musico-philosopher Empedocles of Agrigento: fire, air, water and earth, united by love, separated by hate. The fifth, finally, is subterranean, seismic and earthy." (By P. Emilio Carapezza)
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