Il Saprofita (1974)

Roberto "Juri" Camisasca, from near Milan, despite a very limited discography can be considered a cult figure among Italian rogressive music followers, especially fans of Franco Battiato and fans of Italian prog that blazed it's own path rather than following 'traditional' English style progressive rock. In 1974, Battiato joined his friend Roberto "Juri" Camisasca (they met while serving in the army) to play VCS3 and keyboards and co-produce the latter's debut album, La finestra dentro ("the window inside"). The result was something slightly different from early seventies' Battiato classics like Fetus (1972) and Pollution (1972): the driving forces here are Camisasca's excellent acid-folk songwriting and his unique, thrilling voice Juri strongly influenced by his collaboration with Franco Battiato, who signed Juri to the label and produced the LP, also playing the VCS3 synth on it.

An album which fuses the melodic sensibilities common of the RPI movement with a wild lust for invention, and variously tempers its rage with gentle beds of flute, piano and strings and focuses it into dissonant nightmare-scapes. The result is an accomplished record which oscillates between the avant-garde and almost pastoral, traditional folk songwriting and hardly approaches rock - if the drum track was removed only trace elements of rock would remain. Although this record is justifiably listed under avant-garde - and is bookended by somewhat freeform and contrary excursions - there's enough neo-classical and lushly folky frills to please the symphonic fans too.

Il Cerchio d'Oro were one of the many symphonic-oriented groups to come out of the initial boom of Italian productivity. They were formed in 1974 by the Terribile brothers (Gino and Guiseppe on drums and bass/guitars, respectively) and Franco Piccolini on keys. They were active on the gigging circuit around Savona but never managed to secure a recording deal, and so the only recordings initially available were a handful of singles from the late '70s following lineup changes (they're not particularly interesting from a progressive rock standpoint, either).
25 years after the band formed, Mellow records came along and dusted off some old recordings, releasing them as the self-titled "Cerchio d'Oro"…

"Essere O Non Essere" (To Be Or Not To Be) is the second fantastic release from Italy's Il Volo (The Flight). In the same spirit as their debut album, "Essere…" delivers intriquite instrumentation with the highest calibre musicians. "Essere…" is a little quieter that their first album and offers some scrumptious acoustic guitar / symphonic keyboard interplay. Il Volo blend elements of PFM and Le Orme with the magic of Banco creating some very addictive songs. What makes this album such magic is the carefully tinted delicate guitar/bass/drum interplay in combination with heavy symphonic analog keyboards.

Giovanni Antonini and his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico celebrate the composer who made them famous: Antonio Vivaldi. Their recordings of The Four Seasons and Cecilia Bartoli's famous first Vivaldi recital left an indelible mark on the discography of the Red-haired Priest! Their musical fireworks display continues with a programme of concertos that is bound to provoke strong reactions, since it is the result of a meeting with a musician who is equally adept at shifting boundaries, the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.