Trio Settecento

"The CDs contained in this box set were conceived and produced as part of the project ""Il mandolino a Napoli nel Settecento”, coordinated by the University of Bologna in collaboration with the University of Uppsala and the Neapolitan Mandolin Academy (www.mandolinonapoli700.com). The objective of the project was the recording on period instruments of the 19 compositions for mandolin by Neapolitan composers of the eighteenth century, whose manuscripts are collected in the Gimo collection and preserved in the ""Carolina Rediviva"" Library of the University of Uppsala. The two CDs include the works by Giovanni Battista Gervasio (CD1), and Emanuele Barbella, Gioacchino Còcchi and an anonymous (CD2). The production aims to offer the listener a new interpretation of this repertoire based on an interpretative concept sensitive to the quality of sound, phrasing and aesthetic and compositional concepts of the time, contributing to a more extensive rediscovery of the Neapolitan and southern Italian instrumental repertoire of the eighteenth century. This CD box was born thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the University of Bologna and the Museum of San Colombano – Tagliavini Collection, that hosted most of the recordings and made available the precious instruments of its collection."

A contemporary of Vivaldi, Brescianello is a composer whose music languishes in relative obscurity. Whilst the mists of time have claimed some composers’ music for justifiable reasons, Brescianello’s music presents many compelling arguments for its restoration. Having first included Brescianello in La Serenissima’s 2014 season, they have since staged his opera Tisbe, recorded a violin concerto (included in the "Extra Time" programme), a trio sonata (Settecento) and other works. It is surprising that the Opus 1 was the only set of works that Brescianello chose to publish and La Serenissima have now been given the opportunity to start their exploration of this wonderful publication.