Schubertiade With Arpeggione

Description

The strange fate of the arpeggione, an instrument invented in 1823 by the Viennese luthier Johann Georg Stauffer. Also known as the "guitar d'amour," the arpeggione is actually a guitar equipped with a bridge, held between the knees like a cello and played with a bow. The instrument enjoyed some success for about ten years, but, curiously, almost nothing of its specific repertoire has been preserved except for the absolute masterpiece that is the sonata dedicated to it by Franz Schubert in 1824. At that time, the guitar was very popular in Vienna, and Schubert appreciated it as well; the original version of Die schöne Müllerin was even published with guitar accompaniment! It is around this famous sonata that Guido Balestracci and the musicians of Amoroso have built a delightful Schubertiade, bringing together the arpeggione and piano, voice, and guitars that take ownership of a whole repertoire borrowed from the Lieder of the Viennese composer.