With his distinctive blend of incisive drama and lyrical expressiveness, Sir William Walton was one of the greatest English composers of the 20th century. He and his wife Susana made their home on the Italian island of Ischia where he composed the Cello Concerto – a work he considered to be the best of his three concertos for string instruments – heard here for the first time in a stunning transcription for viola by Anna Serova. The Italian composer Roberto Molinelli pays homage to Susana’s Argentine roots and the beautiful garden she created, La Mortella, with his concerto Lady Walton’s Garden, displaying a colourful use of South American and Neapolitan instruments. William’s Rock and The Missing E are also dedicated to La Mortella.

This fascinating project marks the 40th anniversary of Sir William Walton’s death, and it presents four world-premiere recordings, all composed on and celebrating the island of Ischia and the Walton’s famous Giardini La Mortella, still regarded today as one of the most captivating gardens in the world.

Violist Anna Serova has several compositions dedicated to her in recent years by some of the most important contemporary composers. Her Naxos recording of Boris Pigovat’s Holocaust Requiem (8572729) received wide critical acclaim, including from Classical Lost and Found: ‘Violist Anna Serova is spectacular, delivering exceptionally confident, technically brilliant, sensitive renditions of Pigovat’s heartfelt scores’.

The Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento has participated in numerous international festivals, has toured in the United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and has appeared with many great conductors, among them Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti.