Irish romantic music written by an Italian!

Michele Esposito (1855‐1929) was born in the poor south of Italy. Bad luck prompted him to go abroad and he finally settled in Ireland, where he spent the last 46 years of his life, founding the Dublin Orchestral Society. He conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom he also performed his own piano concerto conducted by Hamilton Harty.

Esposito’s works have a particular Irish flavour, freely making use of folk melodies and generally expressing the atmosphere of the Irish landscape and folklore.

This release presents his complete output for violin and piano - real discoveries in this genre, works of deep emotional content and a high level of virtuosity - played by two Italians with the right romantic feel for this music: violinist Carmelo Andriani and young Vincenzo Maltempo (who received great critical acclaim for his stunning recordings of piano music by Alkan and Schumann on Piano Classics).