Romanticismo Italiano

Description

The new album by Quartetto Altemps, Romanticismo Italiano, highlights two extraordinary yet long-neglected voices from 19th century Italy: Stefano Golinelli and Vincenzo Antonio Petrali. Designed as a rediscovery of "two treasures of the Italian musical heritage" that fill the apparent gap in Italian chamber music of the time, this world premiere recording reveals how two great keyboard virtuosos — a famous pianist and a renowned organist — embraced the string quartet, the supreme genre of chamber music. In Golinelli's String Quartet Op. 100 No. 1 in B minor (1854), lyrical intensity and harmonic agitation meet the structural clarity of the Austro-German tradition, evoking echoes of Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schubert while maintaining a distinct Italian lyrical impulse. Petrali's String Quartet in G major, presented in its revised version from 1884, reflects a mature and deeply personal synthesis: an Italian cantabile warmth intertwined with contrapuntal mastery inspired by Central European models. Grounded in meticulous research of original sources and manuscripts, Quartetto Altemps approaches this repertoire with the spirit of musicians playing the music of their time — forward-looking, vibrant, and alive. The result is more than just a historical reconstruction: it is a powerful artistic statement that restores these works to their rightful place, illuminating a forgotten chapter of Romantic Italy with passion, stylistic awareness, and captivating interpretative depth.