For the first time complete (including 3 world CD premières): the piano works of Ildebrando Pizzetti. Pizzetti was a contemporary of Respighi, Malipiero and Casella. Of these composers, Respighi and Pizzetti composed relatively little for the piano, and their works for the instrument tend recall music of the past - with echoes of baroque and Gregorian chant detected in many of them.

Pizzetti’s style is retrospective, nostalgic and influenced by the Italian Belcanto. His love of melody is quintessentially Italian – a predilection for song, dramatic lyricism and at times of great joy and passion – all components found in not only his orchestral music, but in the works for piano on this CD. Many are exquisite miniatures, but the large scale Sonata of 1943 is Pizzetti’s most important piano work and the Variations on a theme from Fra Gherardo (his opera from 1928) show the composer equally at home working on a large scale. In both works, musical influences and styles from earlier periods are used to great effect.

These are excellent performances by Giancarlo Simonacci, a specialist in 20th century music, as demonstrated in his superb recordings of the piano music of John Cage, previously released on Brilliant Classics.