Italian Guitar Rarities

This programme represents a harvest of rare Italian gems from Baroque to contemporary masters for an instrument that has been of great significance to Italian culture for centuries. Exploration of the guitar's expressiveness ranges from the lyrical amiability of Brescianello's Partita No. 7 to Paganini's delightful miniatures, and the improvisational austerity of Bettinelli's Cinque preludi. Virtuosity can be found in Malipiero's only guitar work, the dramatic Preludio, and Giuliani's extraordinary Rossiniana. Castelnuovo Tedesco's meditative Aranci in fiore, was written in gratitude for the gift of a basket of oranges.

Giuseppe Buscemi's playing stands apart for the dynamism, contrast and audacity of a programme of splendid pieces that have almost never been recorded, and which are rarely heard in concerts today. This programme is entirely focused on the evolution of Italian repertoire for solo guitar from the Baroque to today's contemporary era. Every piece portrays a unique music scenario that can move from Mediterranean lyrical charm to the most edgy dissonances, and through intense rhythmic intricacy to the most jaw-dropping spectacular virtuosity.