Servais and Grégoir - 1re Duo brillant sur un Thème de Donizetti (Urtext Editon)

Perhaps the most famous example of the cello–piano opera fantasy genre today is the Grand Duo Concertant sur des thèmes de Robert le Diable by Frédéric Chopin and Auguste Franchomme. However, one of the finest examples in this genre is the Duo brillant sur un Thème de Donizetti, composed by Joseph Grégoir and François Servais. In this work, both the piano and cello parts are of equal importance and engage in a rich musical dialogue, perhaps more reminiscent of a late Beethoven or Mendelssohn sonata. The cello writing is highly virtuosic, in the spirit of Servais’s most challenging fantasies such as Souvenir de Spa and Carnaval de Venise. To aid less advanced performers, Servais provided ossia passages in a few of the most difficult spots, all of which are included in this edition.

Duo brillant is arguably the strongest example of the Grégoir–Servais collaboration. It is based on a two-part aria: “Ah! quando in regio” and “No, che infelice appieno,” from Donizetti’s Ugo, Conte di Parigi, sung by the character Bianca. The work is dedicated to Léopold I of Belgium.

The first large section of the Duo (through m. 118) functions almost as a rhapsody on these two themes, with “Ah! quando in regio” introduced at m. 42. The second part is a theme and two variations on “No, che infelice appieno.” The final section acts as a third, more expansive variation and serves as a virtuosic conclusion.