Guitar 2024

Born in Torino in 1967, Alfredo Franco was involved in non-classical music in his youth before taking up the classical guitar. He then undertook advanced studies in the historical and critical fields in the Department for Art, Music and Theatre of the University of Turin. He would later abandon concert activity as a performer and focus instead on composition. His now prolific classical guitar output has been well received by important interpreters such as Cristiano Porqueddu and increasingly programmed on the stage and in the studio.

For the Cordas et Bentu Duo, Sardinia has always been a source of inspiration; the ensemble’s name, Sardinian for “strings and wind”, is an homage to the island’s culture. Apeddu and Luciani’s mission to find original compositions connected to their roots began after hearing the stunning Acabbadora for guitar by Francesco Morittu, and the Duo would commission a new work from him: Attítus for alto flute and guitar.

The first disc in this two-CD set contains Sardinian composer Cristiano Porqueddu’s first three sonatas for solo guitar, written between 2013 and 2019 and performed here by his compatriot Riccardo D’Alò. ‘Des couleurs sur la toile’, in three movements, pays homage to the painter Gesuino Curreli, the composer’s maternal uncle, who paints landscapes of contemporary Oliena, a town in northern Sardinia. ‘Sonata di Picerno’ – completed in 2015 and dedicated to Italian guitarist Christian Saggese – is a musical portrait of the distinctive town of Picerno in the beautiful Basilicata region of Italy. All three of its movements narrate an entirely fictional leyenda (legend). Sonata No.3, ‘Il rito del fuoco’, is based on an ancient Sardinian legend that tells of Saint Anthony and his pig stealing fire from hell to give to humanity. It is a cyclical composition, which remains anchored in the harmonic and thematic elements introduced in the first section throughout.