Verso L'italiano

Bonaventura Aliotti‚ unrepresented in the CD catalogues until now‚ was a Sicilian composer of the middle Baroque‚ born in Palermo around 1640‚ dying some 50 years later. A Minorite friar‚ he worked as organist in Padua and various other Italian cities‚ ending up as maestro di cappella in Palermo. His oratorios‚ of which only four survive‚ seem to have been greatly admired in his time. Il Sansone‚ first performed in Naples in 1686‚ tells the central part of the familiar story of Samson – his seduction and betrayal by Delilah‚ at the bidding of the Philistine Captain and with the help of the allegorical character Inganno (‘Treachery’) and Morpheus‚ god of sleep. It was revised two years later for performance in Modena‚ and the choral music was added; the Modena score‚ as the only surviving source for the work‚ is used here.

Recto Verso is the second studio album by French singer Zaz, released on 10 May 2013 under the label Play On. The album was Zaz's first album in three years, after her eponymous début, released in 2010. It débuted on the French Album Chart at #2 and to date has spawned three singles, "On ira", "Si" and "Gamine". Musically, it is largely in a similar style to Zaz's début album. The title refers to the two sides of Zaz's personality, which she wished to express in the music of the album. Recto Verso went on to spend ten weeks in the top 10 albums and has been certified Double Platinum as of December 2013.