Salvatore Orunesu

The recording collaboration with the great violinist Salvatore Accardo continues, which began 29 years ago.

Ottorino Respighi was in the vanguard of the 20th-century rebirth of Italian symphonic music. Famed for his Roman Trilogy, Respighi was also prominent in the synthesis of pre-Classical melodic styles and late-Romantic harmonies and textures. These are the elements that make the Ancient Airs and Dances so captivating and expressive, as Respighi draws on dances by 16th-century composers to brilliant effect. The Concerto allantica is an early, beautifully poetic work that again draws on ancient styles, in a recording that uses the first printed critical edition of the work by Salvatore Di Vittorio, published in 2019.

Of Grieg’s seventy-four published works, only five are for chamber music, and no less than three of these are Violin Sonatas. His favourite instrument was the piano, but the influence of Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810-1880), patron of young Edvard’s career, was enormous. Grieg confessed to considering the Violin Sonatas among his best works, each representing a different phase in his development: ‘the first a little naive, but rich in ideas, the second Nordic, and the third with a broader horizon’, he wrote to his friend Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. The composer’s connection to his homeland, Norway, was very deep.

"Salvatore Di Vittorio is seen as heir to the Italian neo-Classical orchestral tradition with a narrative style notable for its colourful orchestration and 'swelling lyricism' (American Record Guide). This second volume of his orchestral works includes a vivid portrayal of the cultural and historical diversity of his home city in Overtura Palermo. Sinfonia No. 3 evokes the beauty and magnificence of Sicilian temples, while Sinfonia No. 4 'Metamorfosi', based on Ovid, is Di Vittorio's most important work to date. His Overtura Respighiana and Sinfonias Nos. 1 and 2 can be heard on Naxos 8.572333."

Salvatore Accardo; born September 26, 1941 in Turin, northern Italy) is an Italian violin virtuoso and conductor. Accardo studied violin in the southern Italian city of Naples in the 1950s. He gave his first professional recital at the age of 13 performing Paganini's Capricci. In 1956 Accardo won the Geneva Competition and in 1958 became the first prize winner of the Paganini Competition in Genoa.