This boxed set collects the jewels of the music of the great Neapolitan School for harpsichord, starting from its founder Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, up to Niccolò Piccinni, great opera composer and reformer of the Italian opera.

A path that weaves the history of Southern musicians, who saw in Naples their great cultural capital, a springboard to take flight and cross the Italian borders and bring their music throughout Europe.

Often forgotten, the musicians contained in this double CD show a great artistic vein and a strong and very personal musicality, which still enchants the attentive listener; they are: Gesualdo da Venosa, Rocco Rodio, Antonio Valente, Giovanni Maria Trabaci, Giovanni Salvatore, Bernardo Storace and Niccolò Piccinni.

A precious disc for the compositional art and the artistic inspiration of the authors, for the originality and the variety of the pieces, all authentic starting from the most ancient forms such as the Salve Regina by Rodio, the fantasies by Rodio and Valente, the French songs by Gesualdo da Venosa, Giovanni Salvatore, Giovanni Maria Trabaci, the dances of Antonio Valente and Bernardo Storace, up to the splendid “Three Sonatas and a Toccata” of Niccolò Piccinni (the only work of the author for harpsichord) published in Paris in 1775 and which preceded his arrival in the French capital by one year.

Margherita Porfido’s research, precise analysis, and exemplary performance are the compendium of a discographic product that is fundamental for the understanding of music between the 16th and 18th centuries in southern Italy.

The notes in the booklet are by Alessandro Zignani.