Mario Pilati was born in Naples on 16 October 1903. His life was very short, intense and troubled. Together with his siblings, he was introduced as a child into the study of music, as was the custom in Neapolitan upper-middle- class families. He immediately showed a great talent as a pianist and an overflowing creativeness: at the age of 13 he had already decided that music was to be his profession. His father attempted to thwart his artistic calling by making him enrol in a technical school, but, with the help of his mother, he managed to go on with his musical studies: at the early age of 20 he took a diploma with honours in composition at the Conservatorio S. Pietro a Majella of Naples, under the guidance of Antonio Savasta. He immediately looked for a job, in order to become independent of his family: his father not only disapproved of his musical career, but also never accepted his engagement with Antonietta Margiotta, whom he married in 1928 and with whom he had three daughters, Annamaria, Laura and Giovanna. The award-winning specialists Manuela Custer and Raffaele Cortesi (already protagonists of the recent recording Liriche su testi di Dante, tc 840003) are the interpreters of the rediscovery of the vocal chamber music of the brilliant Neapolitan composer.

Francesco Almasio (Milan, 21 April 1802 - Milan, 14 November 1871) was one of the protagonists of the musical life of Milan during the nineteenth century, and is considered the father of the reformation of sacred music in Italy. He was Kapellmeister and organist in several Milanese churches, and the very first teacher in the organ course at the Conservatory of Milan: the few surviving manuscripts of sacred music compositions of his, and the printed corpus of his organ pieces, reveal the everyday life of his liturgical and teaching activities. Francesco Almasio was born in Milan to Pietro Almasio (1780-1846), from Legnano, who also was a Kapellmeister and organist, and Maria Porri; his father made him study the piano, the organ and composition. Organist Fabio Nava uses the historic Bossi-Urbani organ from 1886 in the Prepositurale Church of Leffe (Bergamo) to best render this recording of Francesco Almasio's organ works. In addition to the original compositions, the organ transcriptions by the Milanese composer are particularly interesting. In addition to famous pieces such as Eja Mater from Rossini's Stabat Mater and the symphony from Giuseppe Verdi's La Forza del Destino, true musts of the era, he surprisingly adapts two movements from Beethoven's Septet for organ, enriching the sacred and liturgical repertoire of his time with chamber music genre.

The term Popsongs is a blend of the two English words popular (meaning both "popular" and "celebrated") and songs, emphasizing the intention to combine accessibility with the elegance of refined compositional forms. This collection of sixteen instrumental pieces, composed by Marcello Panni between 2013 and 2015 during his tenure as conductor of the "Tito Schipa" Symphony Orchestra in Lecce for the group of soloists Ensemble del Sud, represents a passionate and playful homage to the most celebrated melodies of Italian musical tradition, both operatic and folk. This project stands out not only for the exceptional artistic quality of it's orchestration but also for it's ability to pay tribute to and draw inspiration from the illustrious precedents of 20th-century mu- sical history. An essential reference is Luciano Berio's (1925-2003) Folk Songs, composed in 1964, with whom Panni was a close friend and collaborator for many years. This cycle of pieces, created for the singer Cathy Berberian (1925-1983), Berio's muse and spouse, was accompanied by a group of seven instruments, the "Juilliard En- semble" from New York, with which Panni himself collaborated in the 1970s. Another point of reference for the Popsongs is Igor Stravinsky's (1882-1971) famous Histoire du Soldat. This composition, also written for a septet (violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, and percussion, the same ensemble used by Panni), represents an extraordinary example of chamber music that combines storytelling, theatricality, and a remark- able fusion of musical styles.

From the early 17th century onwards, the polyphonic motet that had dominated sacred music in previous centuries found itself complemented in both liturgical and devotional contexts by a new, more stream- lined form: the solo motet. This allowed prayer and meditation to be accompanied by music even in places where maintaining a stable polyphonic choir was impractical or economically unfeasible. At the same time, composers were afforded greater freedom to align with the emerging 'modern taste' of the time, which valued the expressive power of a single voice supported by organ or other continuo instruments over the contrapuntal interplay of multiple voices. This modern aesthetic increasingly prioritized the transmission of 'affetti,' seen as essential for the true expression of a text. The compositions presented on this CD by the Ensemble Amphion Novus, a premiere recording on an edition prepared specifically for this occasion, exemplify precisely this direction.

Carlo Mazzoli and Silvia Rambaldi, passionate scholars of historical instruments and performance practice of early music, were teachers for many years - respectively of Piano and Harpsichord - at the Conservatorio "G.B. Martini" in Bologna, where they realised numerous teaching and concert projects. They have had a constant point of reference in Maestro Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, with whom they have collaborated assiduously in the activities of the San Colombano Museum in Bologna, which has housed it's collection of historical instruments since 2010; they are both present with some performances, both solo and in duo, in the DVD Il vibrar dell'aria dedicated to the Museum. It was precisely with performances on these ancient instruments that the study of Clementi's works for duo began, leading to this first complete recording.

Pier Paolo Scattolin's eclectic compositional style, which developed in parallel with his assiduous activity as a choir conductor, reaches an important stage in this discographic production with a sacred and spiritual character, in contrast to his last CD Suoni e rime sparse published in 2021 and centred on profane poetic inspiration. Indeed, it is all sacred themes (both historical and original) that form the backbone of these 5 meditations, which see the executive use of a great variety of instruments and ensembles, with the inclusion of timbral peculiarities provided by harmonic singing and Tibetan bells. The Euridice Choir of Bologna in it's various ensembles is once again the protagonist of the vocal parts, flanked by the Circe ensemble and exceptional soloists to whom the author dedicates first performances, both recordings and concerts.

Serie Bianca by Tactus offers this double CD encompassing the historic recordings of two monumental piano sonatas by Carlo Alessandro Landini (recently awarded for the Missa Novem Vocum, published in 2021, tc 951202). Sonatas No. 1 and No. 2 are in fact in their mighty dimensions (each composed in a single 74-minute movement) in which the composer seamlessly explores and utilises the relationship between sounds and their primordial harmonics, overcoming both the tripartite form and other formal structures. Performing the two works on the piano is Maestro Carlo Levi Minzi, internationally renowned concert artist and full professor at the "Giuseppe Verdi" Conservatory in Milan.

Among the notable musicians born in the city of Pavia, Franco Vittadini is undoubtedly one of the most significant. The city's Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali is named in his honor, and he served as it's director from 1924 until his death. Maria Cecilia Farina uses historical organs on which to perform the author's organ music in a precise and philological manner. Rarely - and always in deference to the liturgical context - does Vittadini employ a grand and solemn language, using organo pleno sonorities or indulging in virtuosic displays. His stylistic hallmark is instead a gentle melancholy: a crepuscular atmosphere - comparable to the poetry of Guido Gozzano or Sergio Corazzini - and a contemplative, idyllic/nostalgic attitude pervade his pages, expressing his sense of faith.

Japanese flutist Eriko Oi, winner of the International Early Music Competition in Yamanashi (Japan), is joined by harpsichordist Tung-Han Hu in this production featuring the world premiere recording of works for flute and continuo by Italian composer Carlo Tessarini, born in Rimini in the late 17th century. A violin virtuoso active throughout Europe and a prolific composer, Tessarini - like many of his contemporaries - also ventured into writing for the flute, significantly enriching the instrument's repertoire. The performance of the two collections presented in this CD demonstrates that Tessarini was undoubtedly a profound connoisseur of the flute's unique qualities, fully exploiting it's dynamic and expressive potential.

Preserved in three different libraries, the Marciana in Venice, the Library of the Naples Conservatory, and the State and University Library in Hamburg, the six cantatas that make up this world-premiere recording were composed by Benedetto Marcello in the early 18th century. These are thus youthful works, quite interesting for the originality of their writing, which helps us understand why their author was so highly regarded during his lifetime - even called the "prince of music" - and also by posterity, as he managed to blend his personal sensibility with lessons drawn from tradition and the influences of a life rich in cultural encounters. The compositional structure of these works - less known than his concertos and theatrical works - follows the traditional format of alternating recitatives and arias. However, this does not prevent the author from experimenting with innovative solutions, particularly in the treatment of the voice. Typical of Marcello's style is a certain inclination toward the bizarre, with the use of harmonies that can sound "estranging," sudden modulations, chromaticism, augmented sixth chords, and the melodic interval of the diminished fourth. In some passages, he even seems to anticipate the models of the "sublime" style theorized in the mid-to late 18th century.

Chamber music, in it's centuries-long course, presents the most varied and surprising instrumental combinations: strings, woodwinds, percussion and keyboard instruments have, over time, found almost infinite possibilities of combination. If we wanted to limit ourselves to music composed for three instruments, the differences in instrumentation that tradition allows us to know would even number in the hundreds. In spite of this, however, a trio consisting of guitar, piano and harp has never before been thought of or realised by anyone, in any sphere or in any era. The recording proposal presented here therefore offers the listener a unique instrumental perspective, completely new: thanks to the original resourcefulness of the Trio Gynaika, the birth of a new, highly original chamber ensemble is celebrated. Historical tradition offers a multitude of musical examples in which the guitar or harp or piano are used, avoiding the simultaneous use of all three or even just two of these three instruments. Dania Carissimi on guitar, Domenica Bellantone on harp and Chiara Di Muzio on piano are the performers in this original production by the award-winning composers Biagio Putignano and Beatrice Campodonico.

For many decades, students of Domenico Scarlatti, including me, have been debating about the relationship between most of Scarlatti's Sonatas and Flamenco dance. Silvia Rambaldi and Andreina Di Girolamo deserve our praise for presenting a practical demonstration that moves beyond the boundary of words, uniting dance and harpsichord performance, by means of the collaboration of the dancer Rita Marchesini, who is an expert on both Baroque and Flamenco dance. And since very often within certain Sonatas there is an alternation between the Andalusian style and the Italian one, the dancer, with her performance, demonstrates that it is possible to "play" with both styles appropriately. (Emilia Fadini) This interesting production on the harpsichord sonatas "encrypted" by Domenico Scarlatti is accompanied by a DVD rom containing the video of the sonatas for two harpsichords filmed in the performance "La festa dorata dell'anima", in which Rita Marchesini (historical dance and flamenco) and Alberto Rodriguez (Andalusian guitarist) join the harpsichordists Andreina di Girolamo and Silvia Rambaldi in this "field demonstration" of the influence of Italian and Spanish dance on the works of the great composer. The comments in the interview with the late Emilia Fadini are not to be missed.

Roberto Fabbriciani is an essential reference point for flutists and composers over the past decades. The list of renowned masters he has collaborated with is nothing short of impressive: Berio, Boulez, Bussotti, Cage, Carter, Castiglioni, Clementi, Dallapiccola, de Pablo, Donatoni, Ferneyhough, Gaslini, Huber, Krenek, Kurtag, Maderna, Messiaen, Morricone, Petrassi, Pousseur, Rihm, Rota, Sciarrino, Stockhausen, Takemitsu, Yun, and many others, to name only the historical figures! Fabbriciani has not only innovated flute technique but has also contributed to updating compositional strategies, as the instrument has consistently been placed at the service of composition. "The goal," Fabbriciani has stated, "is to bring art music to a wider audience. Technology has enabled a new leap forward, but composition doesn't arise from the availability of new tools, it emerges because innovative musical thinking requires these tools to express itself." This CD focuses on music dedicated to Fabbriciani (with the exception of Maderna's piece). Tackling such a diverse range of works by different composers is no small feat; it requires the ability to delve expressively into vastly different styles. Alongside technical skill, it demands a refined sensitivity. Fabbriciani excels not only in mastering the stylistic diversity of contemporary composers but also in interpreting the works of the past. Indeed, Fabbriciani is not merely the highly esteemed interpreter of contemporary music that we all recognize; he is also an outstanding performer of traditional repertoire, boasting an extensive discography that spans from Vivaldi to Bach, Respighi to Piazzolla, and beyond. The past nourishes the present, and the present holds the seeds of the future, as is evident in these recordings.

This world premiere recording production was the rediscovery of composer Arturo Clementoni, active in Ascoli Piceno from the first two decades of the 20th century as chapel master and organist. The picture that emerges from the documentation of his activities is that of a person who lived and worked fully in the rich, lively musical humus of his land, and was loved and respected by his fellow citizens, but also esteemed by the great musical personalities of his time. For his activity as a composer he received a great number of awards, for instance the first prize for his Missa Jubilaris at the composition contest proclaimed in 1950 (declared Holy Year by Pope Pius xii) by Carrara of Bergamo, the most important Italian publisher of that period in the field of sacred and liturgical music. The life and work of Arturo Clementoni fit perfectly in the artistic and cultural current of the Cecilian Movement, whose ideals and rules were officially sanctioned by Pope Pius x's Motu proprio "Inter plurimas pastoralis officii sollicitudines", issued on 22 November 1903. The symphonic chorale Cristo risusciti undoubtedly is a peak among Clementoni's works that are known so far, and because of it's quality and breadth deserves to be seriously rediscovered in the context of the great organ literature of the twentieth century in Europe. The Missa Jubilaris is worthy of a special mention because of the spirituality with which it is imbued and because it achieves a successful mixture of an evocation of Gregorian atmospheres, a solid polyphonic framework, and bursts of symphonic-style elan.

A fascinating instrument, with a warm and intimate timbre, the viola began relatively late to arouse the interest of composers and musicians. Long the recipient of accompaniment lines within orchestral ensembles, it was only in the classical period that the viola took it's first steps in the instrument repertoire for soloist with orchestra as well as for solo instrument. Although some masterpieces still widely performed today stand out (think of Mozart's famous Sinfonia Concertante), this type of repertoire remains meagre and at times unexplored. The two compositions offered here for the first recording are precisely among these hidden treasures to be rediscovered: the Musica Ridotta BI. 316-322 and the Six Idylls, composed for solo viola respectively by Alessandro Rolla and his son Antonio. Not only do these pieces bring out the melodic and cantabile peculiarities of the instrument, but they also deepen it's technical virtuosic aspect. The discographic project thus seeks to restore due consideration to these composers and appreciated violists of European fame at the time, who contributed to the development and emancipation of an instrument of extraordinary beauty.