Italian Harpsichordists on Guitar Antonio De Innocentis

• Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583 - 1643): Passacaglia, F2.28:
• 1 Frescobaldi: Passacaglia, F2.28 02:40
• Aria Con Variazioni Detta "La Frescobalda", F 3.32:
• 2 Frescobaldi: Aria Con Variazioni Detta "La Frescobalda", F 3.32 06:10
• Gaetano Grieco (ca. 1657 - 1728): Aria Di Ballo:
• 3 Grieco: Aria Di Ballo 01:32
• Domenico Alberti (1710 - 1740): Giga (Presto) from Sonata, Op. 1 No. 4 [8] in G Minor:
• 4 Alberti: Giga (Presto) from Sonata, Op. 1 No. 4 [8] in G Minor 03:18
• Allegro from Sonata da Camera in F Major:
• 5 Alberti: Allegro from Sonata da Camera in F Major 03:04
• Domenico Zipoli (1688 - 1726): Suite No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 1 No. 18:
• 6 Zipoli: Suite No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 1 No. 18: I. Preludio 04:00
• 7 Zipoli: Suite No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 1 No. 18: II. Corrente 03:00
• 8 Zipoli: Suite No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 1 No. 18: III. Sarabanda 02:24
• 9 Zipoli: Suite No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 1 No. 18: IV. Giga 02:13
• Bernardo Pasquini (1637 - 1710): Partita Sopra L'aria Della Follia da Espagna:
• 10 Pasquini: Partita Sopra L'aria Della Follia da Espagna 02:12
• Benedetto Marcello (1686 - 1739): Allegro in G Major (Allegretto Con Grazia):
• 11 Marcello: Allegro in G Major (Allegretto Con Grazia) 02:58
• Allegro Con Brio from Sonata in C Major, S.704:
• 12 Marcello: Allegro Con Brio from Sonata in C Major, S.704 03:38
• Allegro from Sonata No. 4 Sf.736°:
• 13 Marcello: Allegro from Sonata No. 4 Sf.736° 03:16
• Domenico Cimarosa (1749 - 1801): Sonata No. 58:
• 14 Cimarosa: Sonata No. 58 01:24
• Sonata No. 53:
• 15 Cimarosa: Sonata No. 53 03:28
• Sonata No. 61:
• 16 Cimarosa: Sonata No. 61 02:59
• Sonata No. 47:
• 17 Cimarosa: Sonata No. 47 03:11
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757): Sonata, K.1:
• 18 Scarlatti: Sonata, K.1 03:27
• Sonata, K.78 (Giga/Minuetto):
• 19 Scarlatti: Sonata, K.78 (Giga/Minuetto) 02:37
• Sonata, K.27:
• 20 Scarlatti: Sonata, K.27 04:31
• Sonata, K.159:
• 21 Scarlatti: Sonata, K.159 03:09
• Pietro Domenico Paradies (1707 - 1791): Allegro (Toccata) from Sonata No. 6 in A Major:
• 22 Paradies: Allegro (Toccata) from Sonata No. 6 in A Major 04:05
• Total Runtime 01:09:16

Info for Italian Harpsichordists on Guitar

“The guitar is an expressive harpsichord” declared the composer Claude Debussy after a concert by the Catalan guitarist, Miguel Llobet. The classic guitar has benefited, more than most other instruments, from arrangements of music of many genres. Renaissance and Baroque music especially suit the timbre and range of the guitar and keyboard music is ideal for playing on the guitar, often direct from the original score. Debussy’s comment may be unjust to harpsichordists, but the expressive limits of the guitar may be said to outweigh those of the harpsichord.

Girolamo Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara, one of the most musically stimulating cities in Italy at the end of the 1500s. He was organist of St Peter’s, Rome and is said to have also been a magnificent harpsichordist. His influence spread not just through Italy, but also north of the Alps.

Gaetano Greco (also Grieco) was born and worked in Naples, notably as Maestro di cappella of the Basilica in Naples from 1704-1720. He was an influential figure, numbering Domenico Scarlatti and Nicola Porpora among his pupils.

If we know the name Domenico Alberti nowadays it is probably only through the eponymous bass figuration heard in many classical and pre-classical keyboard pieces. The lively Giga, from his collection of Sonatas Op.1 gives way to a more elegant Allegro from a Sonata da camera.

As well as being a composer and a pupil of Pasquini, Domenico Zipoli trained for the priesthood as a Jesuit. He emigrated to Paraguay, where he aimed to complete his training, but died before he could be ordained.

With Bernardo Pasquini we bridge the gap between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. Pasquini made a close study of Frescobaldi’s work, especially his early Fantasie and employed some of these ideas in his variations.

Moving forward 50 years from Pasquini, Benedetto Marcello proved to be a real polymath, with interests in politics, law and literature. He left behind a substantial number of sonatas, especially for cello and harpsichord.

Like Marcello, Domenico Cimarosa’s main musical output was vocal music, mainly operas, of which he wrote more than 80, admired by Mozart and performed by Haydn at Eszterháza. Cimarosa’s Sonatas are a refreshing leap into the early classical style, while acknowledging Domenico Scarlatti’s influence.

Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard output, 555 sonatas, dwarfs all the other composers on this recording. The similarity in range between the harpsichord and the guitar makes transcriptions relatively easy.

Paradies was another composer whose music was valued by Mozart, as well as Clementi and Cramer, both keyboard virtuosi of the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Played with great commitment and feeling for the style by Antonio De Innocentis, who also signs for the guitar arrangements.

Antonio de Innocentis, classical guitar

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Antonio De Innocentis
was born in Naples in 1961. In 1985 he graduated Summa cum Laude from Cimarosa Conservatory in Avellino, Italy. He subsequently attended summer courses at the Vienna Conservatory and the Salzburg Mozarteum.

De Innocentis gave his first concert in 1980, followed by engagements all over Europe and the USA. He was the first guitarist in the world to have performed the entire ‘24 Caprices’ by Paganini in a single concert (Avellino, Italy, 1992) with a repeat performance at The Old Malthouse Music Society in Sawbridgeworth, England, in 1996. The outstanding success of this concert prompted the society organiser Chris Dell to write in the Classical Guitar Magazine: “This guitarist is world class, of that there can be no doubt”.

Many composers have written and dedicated works to him including John W. Duarte, Ursula Ditchburn, Neil Smith and Colin Tommis from the UK; John Bent, Pasquale Bifulco, and John Oster from the USA; Jonatas Batista‐ Neto from Brazil; Luigi Arbolino, Marcello Parisi, Giovanni Zaccari and Giuseppe Torrisi from Italy.

In addition to performing, Antonio has given masterclasses in Italy, Norway, France, Spain, the UK and USA. In October 1999 Antonio took part in John Duarte’s 80th birthday tribute concerts first at the Old Malthouse Music Society in Sawbridgeworth then at the Bolivar Hall in London. Duarte wrote of him "Antonio De Innocentis is in all respects a remarkable artist, one who must be included in the upper echelon of today's guitarists..." In June 2009 in Norwich, invited by the late composer’s son Chris Duarte, De Innocentis performed two guitar concertos – “A Tudor Fancy” by J. Duarte and “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre” by Rodrigo in a concert with the Academy of St. Thomas Orchestra conducted by Roger Coull. In October 2019 he took part, together with her daughter Fiammetta (singer), in the "John W. Duarte Centenary Concert", held at Kings Place, London.

De Innocentis has recorded seven CDs for Fiammant Records: “Guitar Recital” (1997); “Premiere!” (2004); “Live at Kellie Castle” (2005), “Return to Glenmore” (2005), “The 24 Caprices op. 1 by Paganini” (2010), “Vive la France!” in collaboration with GiZa Records (2011) and “Dialogues” (2013). His Paganini recording was reissued by Italian web label Dot Guitar in 2014 and marketed on the major international digital platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, E-music, and Napster.

Intimate, refined, with sweet affecting melodies and subtle harmonies, De Innocentis’s Suite per Giuseppina, published by Bergmann Edition, is a delight for player and listener.

Booklet for Italian Harpsichordists on Guitar