Various Artists - Il Salotto Vol. 7: Il primo dolce affano... The first sweet pain (2021)

In the seventh volume of its Il Salotto series, we decided to programme Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets – but they do not appear in the conventional way. Rather, the three sonnets are presented out of sequence, interspersed with music of Liszt’s contemporaries, composers whose work he knew or knew of. Ordinarily, these intensely personal songs are heard in recitals as a separate group. As they are all in the same key, this can give the impression that one flows into another. But, in fact, each song has a different text and sentiment and, in the spirit of its Il Salotto series,we decided to separate them with other music. For various reasons, works by Meyerbeer, Saint-Säens, Poniatowski, Federico Ricci, Gomes and Verdi seemed appropriate choices.