Marco Guzzi

The considerable fame that Bartolomeo Campagnoli (1751–1827) achieved during his own lifetime was largely due to his contribution to violin studies. The 41 Caprices he wrote for viola and the 7 Divertimenti for solo violin are still in use today. Campagnoli’s career as a concert performer began in Rome in 1775, continuing in a long tour of the courts of the capital cities of Europe. In 1797 he was made concert director and first violin at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, a post that he held until 1818, although he also maintained his contacts with the most advanced and influential cultural centres of Europe. He thus enjoyed a florid exchange with some of the most famous teachers and Nevertheless, there is an unmistakably composers of the time, in particular with Cherubini and Kreutzer. The idea that ‘true expression depends on the sound, intonation, movement, taste and aplomb of the measure’ was a constant tenet with Campagnoli, as was his insistence on the need to understand clearly the character of each piece in order to appreciate to the full the composer’s intentions. All this required respect for the exact point in which embellishments have to be added (without exceeding), because: ‘nothing is more beautiful and moving than what is simple’.

Little is known about one of the most productive of Italian musicians, Adriano Banchieri. Relegated to a marginal sector of Renaissance history, still defined by madrigals, Banchieri lived in the most extraordinary innovative period of Italian 'harmonic' music: we find clear signs of a new 17th-Century sensibility in adaptation, or rather in making the word serve representational needs, in the use of the basso concertante and in the extensive use of continuo. The two works presented on this CD represent the chronological heart of Banchieri’s most typical production and may be appreciated in modern recordings for the first time: this is an ambitious project to shed light on Italian 'minor' musical history of the end of the 16th century.

Born in Rome in 1678 to a family of German extraction, Nicola Francesco Haym was employed (from 1694 to 1700) as a violone and cello player by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in the orchestra led by Arcangelo Corelli. In the final years of this period the 2nd Duke of Bedford (Wriothesley Russell, 1680-1711) visited Rome and invited the violinist Nicola Cosimi to follow his entourage back to London. Cosimi in turn invited Haym to come with him as continuo cellist. Haym therefore moved to London in 1701 and would serve as the Duke of Bedford’s ‘master of chamber music’ until the patron’s death in 1711. A significant number of Haym’s compositions were produced during this first period in his life, among them diverse instrumental music for concerts at the ducal residences.

Despite his name, Federigo Fiorillo (1755-1823) was German by birth, the third son of a violinist who had studied in Naples with Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. Federigo followed in his father’s footsteps as an instrumental virtuoso, both on violin and mandolin; the 19th-century musicologist Fétis praised him as ‘one of the most remarkable violinists of his time’ in the Biographie universelle des musiciens.

The Opera\-Oratorio Passio Christi narrates the events of the Lords Passion from the Last Supper to the dawn of Resurrection. The story is told through the feelings and emotions of some of the characters who took part in it in various ways: Peter, Judas, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, the Cyrenean, the soldier Longinus and the Angels. Each character sings the verses of the saints and poets of the world in a different language (Italian, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Latin and ancient Greek) to represent the whole world before the mystery of human suffering. The dramatic structure of the Opera follows the ancient structure of the Sacred Representations: in fact, its original form is designed for dramatization and scenic action. The events of the Gospel are interspersed with the arias of the various characters, which constitute a sort of cinematographic still image.

Marco Albonetti writes: ‘”Amarcord” signifies memory, the nostalgic re-enactment of the past. Here, it evokes the idea of joining two instruments, the saxophone and the bandoneón, both of which were invented in the middle of the nineteenth century. The bandoneón, created as a more agile substitute for the organ in the world of sacred music in Germany, was brought by German immigrants to Buenos Aires, where it became central to the tango, a music enlivened by rhythmic ideas from Africa and inextricably linked to dance.

Italian multi-instrumentalist Marco De Angelis grew up listening to classic prog bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes, as well as related groups, such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. His music shows evidence of his roots, but listens might notice most a resemblance to Floyd, and also Alan Parsons. He is proficient on guitar, bass and keyboards, and is one of Italy's few Chapman Stick masters. Although he has been performing for over thirty years, as well as producing and engineering, he didn't release his first album under his own name until 2013. Marco De Angelis is an Italian solo artist, songwriter, musician, audio engineer and record producer. Started his musical journey when he was 10 and puts for the very first time his hands on a musical instrument.