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To arouse wonder: this was the mission the Baroque bequeathed to the Galant style. The celebrated opera composer and keyboard virtuoso Baldassare Galuppi achieved this by applying tools from the visual arts to music, playing with light, colour, and perspective. The trendsetting fire of his imagination and the sweetness of his cantabiles captured the spirit of the city of Venice with the whimsy and drama of it's new Goldonian theatre, earning him renown throughout Europe. Wonder in Venice is a selection of solo sonatas and concertos for harpsichord and strings that showcase the eclecticism of Galuppi's music, which combines the brilliance of the Venetian Galant style with tempestuous Sturm und Drang outbursts. The young Italian harpsichordist Arianna Radaelli, a brilliant soloist who performs with Il Pomo d'Oro, Zefiro and Jordi Savall, gives Galuppi's keyboard works a new reading which is faithful to historical performance practice, yet also dynamic and audacious. Flanked by the excellent string ensemble La Filarete, she successfully explores the expressivity of this repertoire, which is ripe for rediscovery.
Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785)