Scandali 5

A trio of 16th-century Italian organist composers, two of them almost entirely new to the record catalogues.

The concerto played a leading role in the evolution of the language and style of instrumental music from the late 17th century onwards, with its popularity and importance continuing to grow throughout the 18th century. Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) did not invent the concerto grosso or solo concerto, but he can, without a shadow of a doubt, be considered the composer who gave the greatest boost to the genre, turning it into the dominant form of instrumental music in the first half of the 18th century: without Vivaldi and his concertos, the history of music would surely have followed a different trajectory.

La coppia democrazia-capitalismo è in crisi, vittima di una depressione che non è solo finanziaria. Trionfa invece il capi-comunismo visto che mentre la nostra economia va in pezzi, la Cina cresce a ritmi vertiginosi. Più 9 per cento del Pil nel 2009 e un piano di investimenti grandioso: strade, scuole, ospedali, ferrovie, colossali impianti per la produzione di energie rinnovabili. Si può ancora dire che il comunismo è stato sconfitto dalla storia?

Fernanda Damiano The Italian pianist Fernanda Damiano won the first prize of the 2017 International Music Competition in Vienna “Grand Prize Virtuoso”, and she was the winner in over 50 other national and international competitions.

The Venetian late Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni had a long career in the theatre, and his prolific output included fifty-three operas. However, these stage works were lost and are now largely forgotten, and he is remembered chiefly for his concertos. The Sonate da Chiesa or ‘church’ sonatas, were four-movement concertos and fairly solemn in nature as they were written to be performed in church. However, Albinoni’s Sonate da Chiesa are less traditional, incorporating a range of dance forms, and displaying his elegant style and considerable melodic talents to great effect. The slow movements, such as the Adagio of Op.4 No.6 are particularly appealing. Albinoni’s lyrical ‘church sonatas’ are not what they seem though. Albinoni’s Sonate da Chiesa are performed on this recording by Baroque expert Luca Scandali (organ and harpsichord) and early music specialists Alessandro Ciccolini (violin), Alberto Guerrero (cello), Maurizio Piantelli (theorbo), Miguel Rincón (archlute) and Francesco Baroni (harpsichord).