Demetrio Sratos

Bartolomeo Campagnoli was a violinist by training, who worked in the courts and capitals of Baroque-era Europe, with posts in Rome, Dresden and then in Leipzig, where he was leader of the venerable Gewandhaus orchestra. Thus most of his own compositions are for strings, focused on his own instrument, and often with pedagogical or commercial aims in mind, such as the 41 Capricci for solo viola and the 7 Divertimenti for solo violin. There is also an extensive Method - in 132 separate lessons! - which was first published by Ricordi in 1797, and reprinted and translated many times. It was around this time that he wrote the six delightful, serenade-like works on this album, scored for flute and string trio.

"Although now Rossini is remembered for his operatic production, his career had begun as a composer of chamber music. In 1804 the 12-year-old Gioachino was invited to spend the summer in the villa of his friend Agostino Triossi in Conventello. This rich landowner, who was an amateur double-bass player, was in the habit of organising concerts and musical gatherings: Rossini composed many instrumental pieces for him. The Sei Sonate a Quattro for two violins, cello and double-bass were composed for one of these occasions. As Rossini himself related, “They are six horrible sonatas, composed by me during a holiday near Ravenna, in the house of my friend and patron Agostino Triossi, at a more than childish age, when I had not even had a single accompaniment lesson, and the whole thing was composed and copied in three days and performed dreadfully by Triossi, double-bass, Morini (his cousin) first violin, his brother, cello, and the second violin was me, who, to own the truth, was the least dreadful.” But we must not be misled by such a negative opinion; these sonatas, though elementary from a formal point of view, are genuine and quite inspired: the contrast between the brilliant passages and the lyrical/sentimental ones already reveals what a skilful opera composer Rossini was to become.

Originally released on LP by Cramps Records in 1979. Recorded live on June 14 1979 at Arena Civica, Milan (Italy). The show, conceived to raise funds to cure Demetrio Stratos' disease, became a tribute in his honor after the news of the death of the artist occurred the day before the date scheduled for the concert.

After releasing a couple of albums since their 2011 reunion, Confusional Quartet is back again with an extraordinary new project; a brand new release featuring the voice of the great late Demetrio Stratos, the legendary lead singer of Area - International Popular Group. At the tail end of the seventies, the Bologna based Confusional Quartet represented one of the finest examples of the Italian new wave scene. A complex and energetic mixture between experimental rock, jazz and fresh sounds resulting from the use of new technologies.