Mellan Tre

Hidden behind the late 19th century’s great symphonies, sumptuous ballets and concertos with moving climaxes is something much more thoughtful and contemplative. A delicate sonic world, where silence is as important as sound, marked by pianissimi and a veiled, almost restrained feeling of melancholy. This secret landscape comes courtesy of a few precious pieces for string orchestra by three Russian composers, all active at approximately the same time.

Puccini once said, ‘there is more music in Perosi’s head than in mine and Mascagni’s put together’. Priest-composer Lorenzo Perosi achieved international celebrity by the late 1890s for his sacred music, and he also composed a fine selection of chamber works that are little known today. Perosi’s Piano Quintets have a fresh and spontaneous feel, even though they were written while he grieved the loss of his brother. Combining bold rhythms and solemn spiritual depth, these works along with the Second String Trio are all respectful of tradition while representing an exploration of new paths unique in Italian music of the time.

Around the start of the seventeenth century musical style in Europe underwent a remarkable transformation. During the first decades of the Baroque era, instrumental music underwent a deep transformation, the violin being central in the process. Composers, who were themselves violinists, expanded the technical limits of the instrument, developing a form of virtuosity with the bow that was very swiftly followed by an improvement of left-hand technique. The music for three violins and bass selected for this recording is typical of a XVIIth Century genre which disappeared rather quickly afterwards, although some remarkable works were still to be composed during the XVIIIth century. This selection, which borrows this repertoire to many different European countries, presents some of the most delighful Sonata's, ballets, chaconnes, fantasias, sinfonias and canon written.

One of Italy's best-loved artists, Adriano Celentano has been equally successful in film and music. Whether singing Elvis Presley-inspired rock, as he did as a member of the Rock Boys in 1957, or romantic balladry, Celentano found a dedicated market for his music…

Tomaso Albinoni, through the intrigue of the musicologist who loved him too well, Remo Giazotto, is largely known to the public through a work he'd no part of, the completely spurious Adagio for organ and strings. Had it not been for Giazotto's appealing forgery, drawn from J.S. Bach, the public might never have known Albinoni's name and he would remain a specialist taste. But on the other hand, it obscures Albinoni's genuine works, which are immediately appealing; in one respect dance-like and filled with close, busily polyphonic textures that we associate with Bach, and in others with a loving, generous kind of melodic line that has its roots in the 83 or so operas he composed, all but three lost to us.

Adriano Celentano's I Miei Americani Tre Puntini, Vol. 2 is a very bizarre album from an American point of view. First of all, the point of the album is to pay tribute to American songwriters. This is a nice gesture on Celentano's part, but things go a little sideways when two of the songs are by the Beatles, a band that more people associate with Britain than any other…