Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) is a composer difficult to classify. A child of his time he kept aloof from the innovations of the modernists and dodecaphony. As son of a German father and a noble-born Venetian mother he was born in Venice and went to study in Munich. He became famous as an opera composer. His style is romantic, tinged with impressionism and the odd neoclassical hint. His aim was to create a “universal beauty” in his works, where no rules apply, but only a feeling of well-being and sensuousness. This new recording is a new instalment of the recording project of the complete Chamber Music by Wolf Ferrari. Presented here are the Piano Quintet, a masterpiece of Brahmsian proportions and impact, the Cello Sonata, full of nostalgic Italianate lyricism, and the Duo for Violin and Cello, a forceful dialogue full of wit and lightness.

Played by the Guadagnini Quartet, Amedeo Cicchese (cello) and pianist Costantino Catena, who is the binding force in this recording project of considerable importance.