Variations on Verdi's Rigoletto for Piccolo, Flute and Piano, Op55

Rigoletto has always seemed to me to be a very dark story to which Verdi set the most amazingly cheerful music. Once you can master the thousands of notes on offer in this piece you should find that happily Rabboni has concentrated on the positive side of things and produced a challenging set of variations that's really great fun to play. All the main themes are here and although the writing won't seriously challenge ensemble it will stretch technique and stamina - it's nearly 15 minutes long. Much of the material in the flute and piccolo parts is either dovetailed or in close harmony and there are cadenzas scattered throughout. As usual with this type of work the pianist gets an easy ride. There isn't that much repertoire for this combination - buy and enjoy!