Francesco Filini

This recording features Vespers music of the type that was performed on high church holidays in 17th-century Rome. Carefully and knowledgeably compiled by Bernhard Pfammatter, the pieces on this world-première recording afford us an acoustical image of Vespers music, a form that was then strictly regulated by its liturgical function within the Vespers service.

After the album Bach, Little Books , harpsichordist Francesco Corti continues his collaboration with Arcana with a 2-CD recording entirely dedicated to George Frideric Handel. At the center of the project are the eight “Great” suites. These masterpieces were the composer’s first published set, and are a clear testimony to his virtuosity at the keyboard. Their characteristically diversified styles reflect not only the mélange of national traditions assimilated by the young composer, but also his phenomenal improvisatory talent. Moreover, the attraction of these pieces lies in their melodic and rhythmic affinity to the world of singing and orchestral writing, Händel’s strongest interests.

Il pomo d’oro and Francesco Corti present Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Armida abbandonata, together with two outstanding vocalists: soprano Kathryn Lewek (Armida & Dafne) and baritone John Chest (Apollo). Handel composed these two cantatas shortly after his Italian sojourn (1706-1709), and they demonstrate his acquaintance with and aptitude for Italian operatic music. Compared to opera, supporting roles are left out of these relatively compact cantatas, increasing the focus on the main characters, and heightening the expressive depth of their music. Il pomo d’oro performs these pieces with historically-informed ears, lively and colourful. The cantatas alternate with several delightful orchestral pieces by Handel, including several movements from his Almira Suite.

Francesco Cafiso has caught the attention of numerous critics since veteran writer Ira Gitler raved about the then-13-year-old alto saxophonist's stunning performance with pianist Franco D'Andrea at the Pescara Jazz Festival in 2002. This CD, recorded in the U.S. for a Japanese label with a seasoned American rhythm section, marks a series of firsts for Cafiso: his initial recording outside of his Italian homeland, plus his debut for a non-Italian label and first record date playing (though hardly his first performance) with American jazz musicians. With pianist David Hazeltine, bassist David Williams, and drummer Joe Farnsworth providing terrific support, Cafiso digs into a program filled with typical favorite standards, jazz compositions, and one bossa nova, sounding surprisingly mature and confident, as he was only 16 at the time of the sessions. The young man is still finding his voice on the instrument, but he is a natural who obviously has spent many an hour honing his craft before entering the studio. Highlights include a loping treatment of "Lullaby of Birdland," a passionate, extended treatment of "Estate" and a Phil Woods-like arrangement of "Willow Weep for Me" in which the rhythm section incorporates a bit of Miles Davis' "All Blues" behind his solo. Highly recommended!

Songs Of Love From The American Songbook is a 2022 album by Lorna Windsor & Gian Francesco Amoroso and released on Da Vinci Classics label.

Monsieur de Sainte-Colombes life is largely shrouded in mystery, and almost nothing was known of his music until these Concerts deux violes esgales were discovered in Geneva in 1966. Full of inspiration and fantasy, these pieces are often technically very demanding, innovatively deploying the viols entire range and putting players to the test in ways that were unprecedented in French viol literature. The sound of the viols is as haunting as the musics titles are teasingly expressive, and for their extraordinary imagination, originality and rare sonic splendour these works are justly considered one of the great monuments of European Baroque music.

Preceded by a solemn prologue in which Iride admonishes mortals that they should not offend the gods, the story of Cavalli’s Didone comes to life thanks to numerous solo passages of highly varied character and structure, designed both for simple basso continuo support and for a more complex instrumental accompaniment, for five real parts which enjoy some independent moments and which create a diversion from the action or blend in with it in a wholly logical way, intensifying it in a studied, evocative manner.