On the evidence of the four chamber works included here, Luca Francesconi (b.1956) believes that music should celebrate rather than lament. Dynamism, exuberance and a liking for florid lines that proliferate with aspirations to a wholehearted organicism that accompanying materials may seek to check but will probably, in the end, reinforce: these qualities suggest similarities with Berio and, in particular, Donatoni. But such comparisons do not exactly work in Francesconi’s favour.
Plot in Fiction (1986), the earliest and best piece, has an abrasive side to its energy (British listeners may detect associations with Birtwistle and Simon Holt) that keeps the routine, the formulaic, at bay. Richiami II (1989-92) is attractive in the way it plays with consonance, and even such risky ploys as the use of rhythmic patterns recalling The Rite of Spring work because they don’t outstay their welcome. By contrast, in both Riti Neurali (1991) and the String Quartet No. 3 (1993), there is too much reliance on types of figuration that project a generalized busyness rather than some more genuine substance of character and function. As a result, the listener gets the point well before the composer brings down the curtain.
These recordings were made in various places and under various conditions between 1990 and 1994. I can find no serious fault with the performances, and there is sufficient indication of staying power in the music to make the disc worthwhile. Berio and Donatoni may do similar things rather more memorably, but in the first two works discussed, at least, Francesconi proves a resourceful disciple.'