In 1594 Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, arrived in Ferrara for his marriage to Donna Eleonora d'Este. His meeting with the musical circles of Ferrara, and in particular with Luzzasco Luzzaschi, was to make an important impact on the musical development of the young Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643). In his maturity Frescobaldi arrived at a deeply personal fusion between the musical forms of North Italian (and more specifically Venetian) derivation and the musical experimentation of the southern school. On the album Frescobaldi and the South, harpsichordist Francesco Corti explores the reciprocal influences between the great keyboard master from Ferrara and his colleagues from the Kingdom of Naples. This fertile musical exchange, which culminated in the profoundly distinctive innovations of Frescobaldi himself, fully exemplifies the spirit of experimentation and musical innovation typical of the early seventeenth century, a period that, like few others, sought out and celebrated aesthetic renewal. Program: Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Toccata Prima (Libro Primo, 1615) Giovanni de Macque (c 1550 - 1614): Consonanze Stravaganti Gagliarda Seconda Capriccio sopra re fa mi sol Gagliarda Prima Rocco Rodio (c 1530 - c 1620): Ricercata Terza (Libro di Ricercate, 1625) Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Toccata X (Libro Primo, 1615) Scipione Stella (1558-1622): Partite sopra la Romanesca Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Capriccio sopra la Battaglia, Balletto e Ciaccona (Libro Primo, Aggiunta, 1637) Michelangelo Rossi (c 1602 - 1656): Toccata Prima (Toccate e corenti, c. 1634) Bernardo Storace (XVII sec): Ciaccona (Selva di Varie Composizioni, 1664) Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Capriccio durezze (Primo libro di Capricci, 1624) Gagliarda Quinta (Secondo Libro, 1627): Cento Partite sopra Passacagli (Libro Primo, Aggiunta, 1637)
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