Uncertain and mysterious remain the origin and the musical education of Giuseppe Demachi, who after he was established was a composer rather well known in Europe for having published many works in Geneva, Lione, Paris and London. The works published by Demachi known so far number 17, four of which are violin concertos, but others appeared without indication of the opus number, and still others have been found that are hand-written, among which are two program symphonies entitled “Le Campane di Roma” and “Il corso del giorno alla Campagna”. The compositional skill that led him to fame was not second to that of performer: the intense concert activity forced him through the courts of all Europe, where he was highly requested and appreciated. On this release, the ensemble Trigono Armonico led by Maurizio Cadossi performs a vast anthology of his chamber music production on period instruments in full respect of the philological executive practice.

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This release contains the complete works for organ by Girolamo Cavazzoni and is a must for Italian Renaissance music lovers. The works are performed in the beautiful acoustic setting of the Basilica of Santa Barbara in Montova on the Graziadio Antegnati 1656 organ, designed by the same Cavazzoni and played by him as Gonzaga court organist until his death. Through the great sound of this rediscovered instrument, Ivana Valotti, assisted by the Cantus planus by Gianluca Ferrarini for the alternatim, offers the listener a perfectly philogical interpretation yet full of suggestion - an absolute reference in the rediscovery of Italian musical history.

Giovanni Battista Bassani has few surviving works from his mysterious life. For this release, his oratorio Giona is presented. Giona was debuted at the court of Francesco II d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio, which was surely a milestone in Bassani’s career. Performing this work is “Les Nations,” an ensemble which specializes in rediscovering oratorios from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

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Classical Music

Includes toccata(s) by Girolamo Frescobaldi. Ensemble: Nova Ars Cantandi. Conductor: Giovanni Acciai.
Includes work(s) by Isabella Leonarda, Andrea Cima. Ensemble: Nova Ars Cantandi. Conductor: Giovanni Acciai.

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Classical Music

Recent research has revealed the existence of a practice which has been hitherto ignored: that of doubling the instrumental music composed and conducted by Corelli with all sorts of wind instruments. This practice forces a re-examination of the faithful reproduction of the compositions as printed, which has prevailed up until now. This is thus the first complete performance of the twelve Concerti Grossi by Corelli which attempts to accurately reconstruct the works' historical-musical context.

The effervescent creativity of Franco Margola (already featured on the double CD Tactus TC 901390, Chamber Music � Concertos for Soloist and Orchestra) focuses in this recording on music for guitar, both as a solo instrument and in chamber music settings. Margola's approach to the guitar occurred in 1967. In an interview given to Maestro Domenico Lafasciano for the magazine Accademia della chitarra classica, the composer explained that his interest in this instrument matured thanks to his friend and colleague Renzo Cabassi (1908-1988). Initially, Margola was reluctant to compose for the guitar as he barely knew it's tuning, but eventually, the particularities of this fascinating and intimate instrument inspired him more and more, making it one of his favorites. The de Carli catalogue lists over 450 works for guitar, both solo and chamber ensemble, many of which remain unpublished and unknown. Mauro and Luciano Tortorelli - with the assistance of Ludovica del Bagno on violin - perform this first-ever recording of previously unpublished works by the brilliant composer from Brescia.

The production by the Anonima Frottolisti ensemble, which needs no introduction thanks to it's specialisation in the interpretation of medieval and Renaissance music, focuses in this work on the theme of the female figure that has been handed down to us since the fifteenth century. Cecilia represents a life story that is entirely feminine: "The lament and pity, the despair, the condition of women and their redemption," jealousy, the renunciation of nobles and knights for the defense of one's love and dignity, the "Comedy," that is, the theatrical representation of reality. The song has ancient roots in Western music, from the first monodic forms of the 15th century in France, where the protagonist is Pernette, also present in Italy in the Aosta Valley tradition at the end of the 19th century, or in the case of Jeannette, still used in children's stories in French-speaking areas, or in the fifteenth-century example La belle se sied by Guillaume Dufay and the three-voice version by Josquin Desprez, or in the narrative song of the oral tradition of the "three sisters/ladies who come from Lyon," as well as in the sacred sphere, influencing the composition of the Missa la Belle se sied in Ms. 1377 from Trento, or the Missa La Belle se sied composed by Mambriano de Orto and printed by Petrucci in 1505. The disruptive force of this tradition, that is, the traces that branched out from it starting from the European Middle Ages, are still evident and inherent in every musical and literary sphere.

In his “Journey to Italy” Charles Burney described how Vandini “played in such a way that he made his instrument speak”. Priest, composer and famous cellist, Antonio Vandini had important assignments in Bergamo, Venice (where he will also get in touch with Vivaldi), and in Padua at the Basilica of Sant'Antonio with Giuseppe Tartini, whom with he will also serve the Count of Prague for 4 years. As witnessed by his correspondence with Tartini and Padre Martini, Vandini will then continue his musical activity working closely with Tartini himself. From 1769 Vandini hosts Tartini, now a widower, in his home until 1770, the year of the death of the high violinist. In 1776 he leaves his position to a pupil and went back to Bologna where he was passed away two years later. He did not leave a great deal of works, those that came to us unequivocally testify that Father Vandini becomes by right part of that great Bolognese cello school together with Gabbrielli, Franceschini, Vitali and Degli Antoni. Antonio Mostacci, accompanied by the Bologna Baroque Ensemble, for the solo part plays a 5-string piccolo cello by the Testore school, 1750 ca.

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Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Barbara Strozzi had the good luck to be born in 1619 in Venice, in a world rich in creativity, intellectual ebullience and artistic freedom. She became well-known as a composer and singer, and published eight collections of vocal music (125 chamber cantatas) without the support of the Church or the patronage of an aristocratic family. Her works were included in important anthologies published in Europe and England. She died in Padua, in 1677. She was the adoptive daughter of Giulio Strozzi, and very probably his natural daughter; in order to promote her shows, in 1637 the poet founded the Accademia degli Unisoni. The very limited biographical information we have about Barbara’s private life reveals the personality of a woman endowed with extraordinary talent, beauty, intellect and entrepreneurship. Her Op. 6, published in Venice in 1657, includes cantatas and stanza arias. These compositions show the influence of Claudio Monteverdi, and are characterised by a great expressiveness based on the force of music, which always highlights and magnifies the emotions transmitted by the text. This programme presents some Ariette and is enriched by short pieces for solo harpsichord. The harpsichord introductions to the Ariette come from the seventeenth-century manuscript Chigi Q.IV.27, preserved in the Biblioteca Vaticana in Rome. This manuscript contains a series of anonymous preludes, whose style of composition is reminiscent of that of Barbara Strozzi.

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Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Gio Battista Sammartini. Soloists: Gianfranco Iannetta, Roberto Noferini, Andrea Noferini, Bruno Canino.

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