The London harpist Rosanna Rolton, winner of the International Competition "Suoni d'Arpa" in 2014, shows her skills in a repertoire completely dedicated to the Italian harpsichordists of the eighteenth century, rediscovering those ancient and solid bonds, which have united the repertoire for keyboard to that of the harp. In the wake of that connection that has constantly intersected various aspects of musical production, from solo concerts to teaching, from basso continuo to singing accompaniment, the anthology proposed by Rosanna Rolton proposes compositions drawn by the master harpsichordists of the Neapolitan school and Venetian, who created that musical substratum making, from the second half of the eighteenth century the Italian "gallant style", whose roots were greatly re-evaluated during the chamber and symphonic renaissance of the early twentieth century.

The recording, entrusted to award-winning pianist Massimiliano G�not (who previously spearheaded the rediscovery of composers Federico Bufaletti [tc 860290] and Giuseppe Unia [tc 812101]), focuses on the romantic piano sonata in nineteenth-century Italy. The theme is particularly interesting because 19th-century Italian piano compositions remain largely unknown today, partly due to the overwhelming preponderance of opera and theatre music of the time, which already overshadowed any other musical genre. Massimiliano G�not's passionate interpretation does justice to these important compositions, which deserve careful consideration within the European piano landscape of the time. The compositions of Giuseppe Unia, Carlo Rossaro, and Alessandro Longo represent a wide-ranging synthesis of Italian tradition and influences from beyond the Alps, in which solid compositional technique and typically Italian expressiveness blend in a manner that is both natural and masterful.

Ireneo Fuser was born in Carbonera (Treviso) on 12 November 1902. In 1925, he graduated in organ at the Liceo musicale �Benedetto Marcello� in Venice under the tuition of Oreste Ravanello and later specialized in Rome with Fernando Germani. In 1927, he graduated in piano at the Conservatory in Parma and, in 1935, in composition at the Conservatory in Florence. In 1928, he won the competition to succeed Ulisse Matthey as organist at the Sanctuary of Loreto, a position he did not hold, however. He undertook a brilliant concert career that was marked by a broad repertoire, refined recording skills, great virtuosity, and musical sensitivity that made him one of the most important Italian organists of his generation. From the 1940s onwards, he has given organ recitals for Swiss radio and RAI in live or recorded Sunday programmes in Rome and Turin, which have been on the broadcast schedules for more than twenty years. At the same time, he carried out teaching activities first at the Licei musicali in Venice and Pescara and then in Bologna, where he was established in 1939 as an organ teacher at the Institute that three years later would become the Conservatorio �G. B. Martini�. A firm believer in the phonic excellence of the ancient Italian organ, he shaped his activity with the noble aim of enhancing the glorious period of Italian musical art of the past; among his countless musicological works, the anthology �Classici italiani dell'organo� (1955) is still considered a reference work today.

We do not know precisely the date of birth and death of Gaetano Sborgi, a composer who lived between the second half of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. We can say with reasonable certainty that Sborgi was born in Florence, as in the frontispiece of his sonatas he states that he is Florentine. Sborgi was chapel master and piano-forte teacher at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He studied with his brother (or father according to Picchianti) Gasparo and then moved to Naples in the Conservatory of S. Onofrio, where he had Marco Santucci as a companion and where he stayed for seventeen years. Back in Florence "he made himself known... with several of his theatrical pieces of real good taste, and in others of different kinds. He had three works of piano sonatas printed, which show his genius and talent". Six harpsichord sonatas dedicated to Lorenzo Niccolini, ciamberlano of Peter Leopold I and Ferdinand III, can be included in the context of those compositions that show the gradual transition from the traditional harpsichord with plucked strings to the new conception, piano et forte, with struck strings. Jacopo Sibilia uses a copy of a 1783 Stein fortepiano, which can be played with two different types of action, in order to make the performance more expressive and harmonious.

The dazzling and spectacular sonority of the "trumpet and organ" duo was etched into contemporary history by the splendid recordings made starting in the 1960s for the label "Erato" by Maurice Andr� and Marie-Claire Alain. Since then, a plethora of performers on both instruments have explored - with varied outcomes - works composed for their ensemble, transcribed and adapted music written for other instruments, and encouraged composers to expand the repertoire. The duo Santi-Arlotti, already established by their concert fame, stands out for their meticulous research and the originality of their musical proposals, which have been appreciated since their first CD, released in 2017 for Tactus (TC850003). This album was entirely dedicated to variations on famous opera themes (Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Dall'Argine) composed by Arban, Forestier, Zanichelli, Cacciamani, Rossari, and Spiga. Their repertoire is the fruit of passionate research, as evidenced by the beautiful Concerto by Bortolotti, drawn from a precious Bolognese manuscript and skillfully adapted for the organ by Marco Arlotti, presented in this recording.

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Canti Nel Chiostro: Musica Nei Monasteri Femminili Di Bologn

Corelli: Opere I e III

Classical Music