Quando C'era L'urss

Seven long years separate La Maschera di Cera’s previous studio album (“Le Porte del Domani”, the ideal follow-up to Le Orme’s concept album “Felona e Sorona”) and “S.E.I.”, a great comeback for one of the key groups in the recent renewed interest for the glorious and unique Italian Progressive Rock of the ’70s. Warm symphonic atmospheres, Italian lyrics and a vocal style that often reminds the melodrama tradition: this is what has often characterized this musical genre and perfectly fit the band’s proposal.
“S.E.I.” renews the compositional skills of the current members of the group, based on very specific sounds: imaginative keyboards, ever-changing rhythmic patterns, a full-bodied wind instruments section, a powerful distorted bass that makes up for the absence of the electric guitarю…

Girolamo Frescobaldi is one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of music for harpsichord and organ, and had an enormous influence on other composers up until Bach. His brilliant toccatas reveal an inner world that fascinates today's listener. Frescobaldi's inspiration was born at the court of Ferrara and reached maturity in Rome, where the composer found himself among the major artists of the time who were actively creating a new artistic language. The 7-CD box set includes the four collections by Frescobaldi which, due to their exceptional innovative strength, have left the greatest mark on the history of music for the keyboard.

Not counting the "Live at Gouveia Artrock" split DVD, "In Concerto" is the third official release by La Maschera Di Cera following two studio outings: the eponymous debut (2002) and "Il Grande Labirinto" (2003). Already the first album brought a cult status to band, and now, this is probably the most popular contemporary Italian Prog act. As usual, the band's live performance is full of fresh urgency and energy. The album includes eight songs, by four from each of the band's studio outings, though Del Mio Abisso e Del Vuolo and Del Mio Volo were played as one monolithic piece and, consequently, were placed on one track…

There's only one problem with this otherwise excellently played and recorded program: a certain lack of dynamic range that makes all of the slow movements come across as a bit too loud. To some degree this is a general limitation of the harpsichord itself, and it must be said in this respect that Francesco Cera plays an attractive-sounding instrument, with a bright, clean tone that's never excessively clattery or fatiguing. Indeed, his clarity of articulation even at a propulsive main tempo, as in the first movement of the D minor concerto, is thoroughly admirable, but I would have liked a touch less aggression especially in the slow movements of the two major-key works. Diego Fasolis and the string players of I Barocchisti deliver precise, boldly phrased accompaniments, and their timbre isn't "authentic" in an annoying sense. In the allegros these performances really are exciting.

For many, Johann Sebastian Bach is ‘the’ composer of the Baroque period, a master of harmony, counterpoint and genre. During his lifetime he was particularly renowned as a virtuoso organist, and his compositions for the instrument have formed the core repertory of any aspiring organist ever since. The content of the Orgelbüchlein – a selection of chorale preludes composed while Bach held the post of Ducal Organist at Weimar – includes several pieces that are considered to be among Sebastian’s finest works.

It may be pure coincidence, but in 1626, it was two enlightened intellectuals from Seville artist Diego Velazquez and composer Francisco Correa de Arauxo, who stood out for their ability to portray a microcosm of human emotions in their work. The surviving body of Correas work, the Facultad organica, was published in 1626. For its time it remains a remarkably forward-looking collection. It is especially notable for the dissonant harmonies which Correa, as a cleric as well as a composer, aimed to evoke for his listeners the hardships facing them on their path towards a longed-for paradise.

Domenico Scarlatti, the sixth child of the celebrated composer Alessandro Scarlatti, was a prolific keyboard composer, and is best known today for his 555 sonatas for keyboard. Domenico was employed by various members of European royalty and nobility in Italy, Spain and Portugal throughout his career. His style was unusual and innovative, but very few of his works were published during his lifetime.