Pianist and musicologist Alfonso Alberti writes in the liner notes: “in the evolution of musical language, Barber finds a niche in which we can still say something in a certain way which others consider dead and buried; he does not look ahead as Cowell or Ives (and still less Cage), do simply because he has other objectives”.

This new CD includes the Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra, perhaps the culminating point in Barber’s career (the piece won the composer his second Pulitzer Prize), and the Three Essays for orchestra.

The first, dated 1937, and linked - chronologically and historically - to the famous Adagio, was proposed to Arturo Toscanini for the first performance; the second was completed in 1942 and conducted for the first time by Bruno Walter; the third was written in 1978 and is typified by a particular crepuscular atmosphere and sparer writing, without giving up a charming melodic nature.

The skilful pianist Giampaolo Nuti, already known for his recordings dedicated to Schnittke, Busoni and Berio, appears with Daniel Kawka and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.