I Tempi

Following the acclaim that has greeted each of her Odradek releases, Italian pianist Pina Napolitano brings her exceptional intellect and musicality to the works of Elliott Carter and, in his 250th anniversary year, Beethoven.

Adelmo Fornaciari, more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero, is an Italian rock singer and Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. His music is largely inspired by gospel, soul and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces. Zucchero's voice is gritty and textured, but he sings with a great sensitivity and lyricism, and these same qualities are mirrored in his songwriting. By blending blues, pop, and adult contemporary, Zucchero's music can be quite affecting. He is credited as the "father of Italian blues", introducing blues to the big stage in Italy. Zucchero is one of the few European blues artists who still enjoy great international success.

Qualche settimana fa recensivamo il primo libro del Wohltemperierte Klavier eseguito all’organo da Daniele Boccaccio. In quell’occasione si ricordava come il termine “klavier”, utilizzato da Bach per indicare lo strumento da usare per l’esecuzione, sia in realtà molto generico, indicando qualunque strumento a tastiera: clavicembalo, clavicordo, fortepiano, organo, e quindi anche ciò che nel 700 ancora non esisteva, il pianoforte.

Everything has already been said about Vivaldi's Four Seasons, that monument of music and the object of very many recordings. This work, no doubt one of the best known throughout the world, was, however, innovative when it first appeared, for Vivaldi showed himself to be highly precise in his writing, both in terms of the dynamics and the tempi (the term 'Allegro' has 18 different dynamics in his indications). A man born in the seventeenth century, he injected into his music the new dynamism of the following century, without ever neglecting the theatrical aspect of the writing, including the instrumental writing.

"I Was Made To Love Her" was Stevie Wonder's contribution to the musical landscape in the summer of 1967, spawning the title track hit single in the US and the UK, co-written by Wonder. The album contains a handful of other Wonder co-writes along with cover songs by Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding and others.

Albrecht Mayer is back with a brand new Baroque album that will please both newcomers and connoisseurs. Besides the famous Vivaldi “Concerto for Oboe and Strings in C major, RV 450”, the album includes a great selection of hidden gems and world premiere recordings of musical jewels.

With over 2 million albums sold, a Grammy nomination and international recognition as one of the most successful and prolific jazz vocalist of her time, Stacey Kent stands strong among the artists that don’t have much left to prove. She surprises us once more with her brand new album, I Know I Dream. Recorded inside the famous Angel Studios in London with an orchestra of around 60 musicians, this is her first orchestral album in a career that spans two decades and more than 15 albums.

Diana Krall’s fifth album won Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (and was nominated for Album of the Year). The album colors Krall’s classic jazz stylings with gorgeous orchestral arrangements on numbers by Porter, Berlin, Gershwin and others. The record features the talents of A-list jazzers like Russell Malone and Alan Broadbent and was ranked by Billboard as the 9th best jazz album of the 1990s.