Ferdinando Carulli was amongst the most important Italian guitarist-composers during the first half of the 19th century, and his Guitar Method, Op. 27 is still in use today. Marcello Fantoni's first volume of Carulli Rediscovered (Dynamic 7956) was awarded the Chitarra d'Oro Prize for best guitar album of the year in Italy in 2023, and this second volume features world premiere recordings of rarely performed works. These range from the complex Grande Sonatas to three lively Neapolitan-style Ouvertures, Op. 6 [a] brought by Carulli from Italy to his new home in Paris. The album concludes with the brief but delightfully melancholy etude in B minor, Op. 192.

A native of Naples, Ferdinando Carulli established his reputation as a leading guitarist and teacher in Paris, and his Guitar Method, Op. 27 is still in use today. As a composer he shrewdly satisfied the demands of players and audiences alike. Entertaining light waltzes can be found alongside popular melodies treated to virtuoso variations of great brilliance and indisputable originality. Musical references to Carulli’s contemporary Paganini and the fashionable influence of Spanish styles and techniques are brought together in a program that includes numerous world premiere recordings to deliver a portrait of a Neapolitan musician who deserves to be much better known.