The typology of the 1800's study was fixed once and for all by Cramer, in Study for the piano (1804-1810). According to Cramer, the study is a quite short piece, founded on a single instrumental scheme, whose prevailing technical aim cannot leave a valid musical content apart (unlike the exercise, that is the mere repetition of a mechanical formula). In the cramerian study the unit in the instrumental scheme (that will be an essential feature of the XIX century study) comes from Bach's model, whereas Domenico Scarlatti was set the example for the virtuous writing. The studies op.740 conform this typology in a strictest way than Cramer's ones. Every study is marked by a title that shows the pedagogical virtue: Clearness in agility (n. 3), Sweet skip and separate (op. 9), Agility in fingers alternation (op. 11) and so on. Czerny made use in order to codify the styles and the existing piano structures, of his ability in writing and his imitation capability. To a core of clementinian studies (like numbers 1, 5, 27, 28, 32, 34, 50), characterized by the powerful sonorousness and by the wide dimensions, were added studies in the more concise Cramer's style (for example nn. 8, 37, 41), whereas Hummel's influence seems to appear in studies like numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 18, 29 and 30, marked by an elegant and aerial writing. But the studies op. 740 also offer an example of music languages that are out from the didactic kind: echoes from the Magic flute are, for example, in the study n. 11 and numbers 18 and 45 are influenced by a sweetness that is typical in Mendelssohn. Czerny's historical function didn't limit itself to the arrangement of the classical piano building: studies like numbers 2, 31, 36 and 50 already use two or more simultaneous registers for the right hand: a technique that has nothing to do with Clementi's conception or with Beethoven's one (except form some examples), and that will become a feature of Czerny's most famous pupil, Franz Liszt.

The songs on this record cover an entire century of Neapolitan melodies and two important historical periods in its evolution. The first, in the nineteenth century, saw the coming together of the folk tradition and the tipically melodramatic style of singing. This is the period in which composers such as Mercadante, Donizetti and Rossini all make use of Neapolitan style and forms. Another section of the Cd is dedicated to the repertoire drawn from the period between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. This was a golden age in the production of Neapolitan music. These are the years of Salvatore Di Giacomo and Francesco Paolo Tosti, two great scholars and interpreters of Neapolitan culture.

Quatuor pour la fin du Temps is one of the most touching pages of the entire work by Messiaen. It was composed in the nazi lager of Goerlitz, where the composer was imprisoned in winter 1940-1941. The work is inspired by the vision of the Angel announcing the end of Time, as narrated at the beginning of the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse of John. The quartet was performed on the 15th of january 1941 in the lager, in front of 5000 prisoners. In this cd the work is performed by Francesco Malatesta (violino), Ugo Gennarini (clarinetto), Francesco Sorrentino (violoncello), Cristofer Giorgilli (pianoforte).

A new edition of the collection of George Gershwin's piano works. Helped by his sense of rhythm and his virtuoso hand, Maestro Massimiliano Damerini follows the american musicianÕs complex and ever-changing path, performing pages in a perfect balance between jazz, popular music and serious music: a witness of a versatile talent.

This is a didactic cd including some compositions of Luigi Boccherini as instrumental bases that on one hand can contribute to the formation or extension of a chamber music repertoire and on the other hand create a stimulus to play real ensemble music. The pieces were recorded without the guitar. This was added later in order to show that gratifying results can be obtained by playing over a pre-recorded base. This CD is very easy to use: you need to tune your guitar to an A at 440 hz using a diapason.

Even if Mercadante is mostly known as operas composer, the music of this collections witness not only the peculiar creative potential of the author but also his natural attitude to the instrumental genre. Infact we can place the "Variazioni in fa maggiore" (Variations in Fmajor) and the "Quartetto in mi bemolle maggiore" (quartet in E durmajor) in the composer's youth, whereas the two "Decimini" are part of his late production. As to the latter - along with their uniqueness asa form in instrumental music - the "Decimino con pianoforte" (the cd'sopening track) is a real rare issue. This cd is part of a Polimnia Ensemble trilogy dedicated to chamber music of great opera composers, along with compositions by Rossini and Donizetti already released with Musikstrasse.

This is both the first CD issued by Musikstrasse and the first recording experience of the Polimnia Ensemble, a group of Italian artists including conservatory teachers and leading musicians from Italy's main orchestras. This collection contains Rossini chamber works, ranging from brief, simple compositions, both vocal and instrumental, to brilliant, virtuoso excerpts, characterized by the rich timbre of the orchestra ensemble. Among the pieces played here are few famous ones - i.e. Une Larme for cello and piano - along with rarities such as Toast pour le nouvel an, for four voices.

This cd includes four hands piano works by Gaetano Donizetti. The composers' piano music show evidence of a dovetailing of musical entertainment with piano virtuosity.

This is a didactic cd including some compositions of Luigi Boccherini as instrumental bases that on one hand can contribute to the formation or extension of a chamber music repertoire and on the other hand create a stimulus to play real ensemble music. The pieces were recorded without the guitar. This was added later in order to show that gratifying results can be obtained by playing over a pre-recorded base. This CD is very easy to use: you need to tune your guitar to an A at 440 hz using a diapason.

This cd includes four hands piano works by Gaetano Donizetti. The composers' piano music show evidence of a dovetailing of musical entertainment with piano virtuosity.

Third volume of the series "Ave Maria", faith and spirituality in great musicians work.

The songs on this record cover an entire century of Neapolitan melodies and two important historical periods in its evolution. The first, in the nineteenth century, saw the coming together of the folk tradition and the tipically melodramatic style of singing. This is the period in which composers such as Mercadante, Donizetti and Rossini all make use of Neapolitan style and forms. Another section of the Cd is dedicated to the repertoire drawn from the period between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. This was a golden age in the production of Neapolitan music. These are the years of Salvatore Di Giacomo and Francesco Paolo Tosti, two great scholars and interpreters of Neapolitan culture.

The piano works included in this CD show Carl Maria von Weber's talent as a virtuoso and communicative musician. Although this author has long remained unknown to the general public and was often excluded from the repertoire of the most famous pianists, its production is interesting because it contains the seeds of a number of important elements which the great Romantics are certainly indebted to. Carl Maria von Weber's works are performed by the Sicilian pianist Stefania Cafaro.

This CD is a tribute to the legendary Russian pianist and his magic touch and contain invaluable first issues that stand in witness of Sofrinitzskij?s talent, only aknowledged after his death (Moscow, 1961). We are confronted to an artist who makes us still appreciate his peculiar way of playng the piano, making it almost sing, and his quick-phrased style, especially detectable in the pieces where he plays his favourite Chopin and Skriabin, who was his father-in-law. Top-quality remastering makes it possible to enjoy such unforgettable recordings dating back to 1959 in Moscow.

The piano works included in this CD show Carl Maria von Weber's talent as a virtuoso and communicative musician. Although this author has long remained unknown to the general public and was often excluded from the repertoire of the most famous pianists, its production is interesting because it contains the seeds of a number of important elements which the great Romantics are certainly indebted to. Carl Maria von Weber's works are performed by the Sicilian pianist Stefania Cafaro.

Boccherini's correspondance qith his publisher, Pleyel in Paris, bears witness to the fact that the Six Piano Quintet op. 56, like the similar series op.57, belong to his period of intense creativity in Madrid. The fact that the score was sent to Paris, also shows that the composer was intent on establishing his reputation there, given that the piano was very much in vogue in the city at the time. We also know, however, that the same Quintest had already been performed in Madrid, in the palace of the Mrquis Benavente, in the version for strings and guitar. This version was something of a private affair and was undoubtedly due to the Marquis' predilection perhaps even his gift for the guitarl. The piano version has the merit of giving us an insights into works which would otherwise have been lost forever. The performance does not trumpet the differences, but rather, as Boccherini hoped, exalts the evrchanging nature of light and shade and of stasis and motion.

This Cd is a musical journey that takes the listener across several cultural enviroments and contexts including the theatre , the café-chantant, floklore and the cinema. It draws on the musical heritage of Germany, France, Latin America and Italy and it aims to bring to the fore the character and spirit of each individual area. The journey starts from some famous songs written by the derisive Kurt Weil and continues with three French authors who were also connected for a certain period by a human and artistic bond: Eric Satie, George Auric, Francis Poulenc. Then we have an incursion in Latin-American with composer Manuel Maria Ponce and Heitor Villa Lobos. The programme closes with a fantasy based on film music by Nino Rota. Trio Chitarristico di Roma, made up of Fabio Renato D'Ettorre, Marco Cianchi and Fernando Lepri. It was founded in 1983 with the aim of introducing the repertoire that exists for this unusual formation to the ublic and at the same time to present guitar versions of pieces written for other insgruments. The Trio has performed all over Europe, sharing the stage with many internationally acknowledged artists. With Musikstrasse, they also published "Recital" and "Rara" musica del 900.

Boccherini's correspondance qith his publisher, Pleyel in Paris, bears witness to the fact that the Six Piano Quintet op. 56, like the similar series op.57, belong to his period of intense creativity in Madrid. The fact that the score was sent to Paris, also shows that the composer was intent on establishing his reputation there, given that the piano was very much in vogue in the city at the time. We also know, however, that the same Quintest had already been performed in Madrid, in the palace of the Mrquis Benavente, in the version for strings and guitar. This version was something of a private affair and was undoubtedly due to the Marquis' predilection perhaps even his gift for the guitarl. The piano version has the merit of giving us an insights into works which would otherwise have been lost forever. The performance does not trumpet the differences, but rather, as Boccherini hoped, exalts the evrchanging nature of light and shade and of stasis and motion.