Italian

This 1996 disc compiles music from the beginning of Andrea Bocelli's career, with tracks going back as far as 1992. At this point the blind Italian tenor, although trained in opera, was unabashedly a pop singer, just like the many other pop singers who have benefited from classical vocal training at one time or another…

Italian Playboys includes nine original songs from the classic 6T’s beat styled title track to the introspective After and Once Again, along with a selection of rarely attempted covers including the heavy funk of Jon Lord on Rubber Monkey, an uplifting interpretation of Jack McDuff’s Briar Patch (an alternate version will also appear on the forthcoming McDuff tribute album from Scufflin’ Records), and a scorching slice out of the library classic Move, Move, Move.

The ‘Italian’ Concerto and ‘French’ Overture included on this disc together make up the second part of Bach’s Clavier-Übung, composed, according to Bach himself, ‘for music lovers to refresh their spirits’. Here Steven Devine’s performances show that these works do far more than simply refresh spirits. The ‘Italian’ Concerto has long been thought a product of Bach’s extensive study of Vivaldi’s concerti.

The "100 Years of Italian Opera" series released by Opera Rara is unique in the annals of opera recordings. However, this installment is especially exciting as it documents the evolution of Italian opera during the 1820's, the decade when romanticism truly began to come into its own on the operatic stage. Opera Rara has lovingly compiled a variety of arcana written by composers famous and forgotten. Included is everything from overtures to arias, duets, ensembles, and entire scenes.

For his third album for Chandos, the saxophonist Marco Albonetti turns to the rich tradition of film music from his native Italy.

If we speak about the late works of Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) we usually refer to his masses, oratorios or litanies, which have today finally acquired the attention and acclaim they fully deserve. But among these works we also find secular vocal compositions such as the serenata 'Il Diamante and a collection of Italian arias.