Marco Castello

For some periods of its long history Venice was the most alive and artistically innovative city in Italy. Around the turn of the seventeenth century it was more – the veritable music capital of Europe. Musicians from north and west Europe stayed there to learn from the composers, instrumentalists and singers who had either been born in Venice, or had themselves gravitated to the Republic's glorious and inspiring cultural (and physical) environment. Only Dario Castello (fl. 1600-1630) of those composers presented here falls into the first category.

Everybody will know by now that Elizabeth Wallfisch has a special interest, affection and regard for the 17th- and 18th-century Italian violin schools. She has already recorded much music by the likes of Tartini, Corelli, Locatelli and others with her group, The Locatelli Trio, and also with The Raglan Baroque Players under Nicholas Kraemer. Here is a varied and fascinating collection of pieces by some of the lesser-known composers from a generation or two earlier than those composers.

This disc is a real plucker’s delight featuring not only the skills of three leading mandolinists – Juan Carlos Muñoz, Mari Fe Pavón and Alla Tolkacheva – but also a continuo section consisting of baroque guitar, harpsichord and (anachronistically) Renaissance lute; even the violone and gamba are usually played pizzicato. Together they romp through a programme of concerti and sonatas by Dall’Abaco, Arrigoni, Matteis, Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Sigismund Weiss (rather than his more famous brother Sylvius Leopold), Fasch and of course Vivaldi; with a doffof their tricorns in the direction of earlier baroque composers Castello and Uccellini. This is joyous, glorious music-making.

This Da Vinci Classics album focuses on the soundtrack of an ancient Italian film, the subject of which is taken from a poem by Fausto M. Martini (1915). The film was made by Nino Oxilia and covered with sounds by Pietro Mascagni. The film revisits the myths of Faust and Dorian Gray, seen from a female perspective. Mascagni, whose fame was based mainly on his operas, sensed the potential of cinema which he considered as the future of opera, or the artistic expression that would replace singing theater as the public's preferred means of entertainment. But, once again, for Mascagni it wasn't about entertainment; he sought artistic perfection and pursued it. All the minute visual details of the film are echoed in the music, which comments on what was seen on the screen with what was performed by the orchestra. In this album Da Vinci Classics it was decided to record in full, without cuts, the piano reduction of the orchestral score created by Mascagni himself. The attached tracklist refers to the captions of the film, in order to allow the listener to follow, or imagine, the unfolding of the film.

Described by Rolling Stone as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years", Calibro 35 enjoy a reputation as one of the coolest bands around. Legendary Milanese combo Calibro 35 continue their journey into the world of cinematic jazz-funk with their new album "Exploration." Set for worldwide release on June 6, "Exploration" marks their return to independent label Record Kicks after their last studio album "Nouvelle Aventures" released on Universal Music in 2023. The band picks up from their latest EP, "Jazzploitation," released on Record Kicks last October.

Although the first violin virtuosos came mainly from Cremona, Brescia or Mantua, it was Venice that swiftly emerged as the principal centre for the development of instrumental music. Moreover, it was there that most collections of this music were printed all through the seventeenth century. It is curious to note that all these virtuosos obviously enjoyed sharing their success with their colleagues: for, alongside works for one or two violins and continuo, almost all the composer-violinists gathered together on this disc conceived sonate, canzone or sinfonie for ensembles of three or four violins. In addition, these compositions often make use of bichoral or echo effects.