CAGE, JOHN / MORTON FELDMAN / JUAN HIDALGO / LEOPOLDO LA ROSA / WALTER MARCHETTI — Rumori alla Rotonda

“This startling, landmark concert recorded in Milan, January 1959 features two works by each composer and includes Cage, Hidalgo, La Rosa, and Marchetti performing among the ensemble of Italian musicians. "Featuring Cage's intervention both as composer and performer of one's own work as well as of two piano pieces by Morton Feldman, the concert at Pellegrini's 'Rotonda' may be considered the first event of experimental music in Europe in which the presentation of American and European composers consciously acted on an agreeing and equal aesthetic horizon. Both the set of pieces in program and the peculiar environmental frame of the concert were fit intentionally for emphasizing the radical aesthetic conceptions of the compositions performed. Exploiting the circular architectonic structure of the concert hall, all the performers were spread among the audience, with the piano exactly placed in the center."--Gabriele Bonomo, from the liner notes. Requisite audience coughs and exterior traffic sounds enhance the quaint intimacy of the proceedings. Beautiful digipak includes a 36-page booklet of essays and photographs documenting the event.” [press release]