Giovanni Battista Gervasio was a significant personality in the musical scene of 'stile galante' of the second half of 18th century; composer, virtuoso and teacher, he studied and improved the four courses mandolin, which was first built in Naples in that period. Thanks to him this instrument became popular and technically refined as it is nowadays. The aim of this recording is to reproduce the tinkling sonorities of these compositions. In order to obtain thoroughly this particular natural sonority, we have decided to "capture" the natural reverberations of the environment without ignoring the sound of each single instrument, so that the phrasing is intelligible. We have played an original mandolin built in 1764 and an harpsichord copy of an Italian harpsichord of 18th century. We have chosen to play continuo only with harpsichord considering that these two instruments have a similar way to produce sound. This is the first complete recording of all the sonatas for mandolin by Giovanni Battista Gervasio and the first absolute world recording.

The organist Giulio Mercati, already protagonist of the Tactus' album dedicated to the rediscovery of Giovanni Tebaldini, on this new release covers the role of the author with the scene music of the "Interrogazione a Maria" by Giovanni Testori, and some of his own vocal, choral and organ sacred compositions. After attending the Bruno Bettinelli compositional school, Mercati here demonstrates technical and expressive awareness of great aesthetic depth which relates in a convincing and creative way to the traditional musical heritage. In the performance, where we also see him as organist in the solo pieces, we have to note: the San Bernardo Vocal ensemble (accompanied by Mattia Marelli at the organ), the soprano Lidia Basterretxea Vila, and the cellist Claude Hauri. The organ used is the 1965 Mascioni of the Church of S. Maria degli Angioli in Lugano.

This is the original debut album by pianist and composer Edoardo Bruni and his modal musical writing technique - in this way disconnected from the rules of tonality or other note's succession systems experimented until now - 'expanded' to the extreme of it's possibilities. A full-bodied chamber trio for clarinet, cello and piano, and seven tracks for solo harp constitute the content of this album that is the first stage of the Ars Modi project, based on the principle of the "pan-modality" with which the composer forges a new and personal sound aesthetic.

Classical Music

The cult and devotion to Mary have been among the greatest and most important sources of inspiration for all the arts in the history of humanity, and in the history of music they have given rise to a myriad of compositions that have spanned the centuries since the beginning of Christianity to the present day. Within this record the ensembles Vox Poetica and Nova Alta directed by the master Sabino Manzo offer to us some examples of the most significant Italian composers of the Renaissance and Baroque period, starting from the "divine" Claudio Monteverdi, a milestone in the history of music, up to Alessandro Scarlatti, a leading exponent of that Neapolitan school that in the eighteenth century exploded in all it's shining vitality, passing through Girolamo Frescobaldi, "monster organist" whose fame as a composer and keyboardist went across the Italian borders.

Artists who fitted completely into their place and time, their schools and background of peers, are fairly plain sailing. The starting point is one and the same, like a word that begins in basic form before being overlaid with individual aesthetic, professional and productive connotations. It may not be that easy, but it certainly remains so. None of this applies to Luciano Simoni (1932-2010 who lived and thought in lofty style at Bologna, Italy, across the second half of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century without kowtowing to principles or any contemporary rules of art or life - which may be well and good, but are not to be taken on board a-critically. Unlike many a colleague, Simoni approached classical music from every possible angle. Which of them, for example, threw themselves enthusiastically into sacred music? Simoni did, and among other things produced a full-scale Missa solemnis for chorus, orchestra and soloists. His fondness for chamber music was, of course, less unusual: he left some memorable scores such as those collected on the present album whose program includes three of the nine quartets and one trio for strings and piano.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Taking the advantage of two great historical instruments [the Giacomo Bazzani e Figli, 1832, organ of San Lorenzo in Cavazzana (RO) church, and the Gaetano Callido 1797, organ of the Beata Vergine del Rosario in Polesella (RO) church], in this double album organist Alessandro Perin offers a significant collection of the works by the Paduan composer Gaetano Valeri, a leading exponent of the late eighteenth century Italian keyboard music scene. Remaining anchored to the 'galante' style, Valeri's sonatas are characterized by great inventiveness, singability, rhythmic variety and formal elegance, and naturally enhance the variegated tonal characteristics of the Italian seventeenth-century organs. With the participation of maestro Roberto Loreggian, to be noted the world premiere recording of the two four-hands works taking to the limit the expressive and technical features of the instrument.