Rossiniane

Mauro Giuliani’s role as a virtuoso guitarist, composer, and transcriber of themes cast him as a central figure in early 19th-century Viennese circles, giving him a way to become the symbol of a sunny, dazzling Italian-ness: the collection of the six Rossiniane represents in this sense a faithful mirror of the composer’s style. Constructed following the “pout porri” scheme, the six Rossiniane portray, on the one hand, a compositional style very much in vogue in early 19th-century Vienna and, on the other, demonstrate the writing skill of one of the greatest talents expressed in the history of guitar music. Some separate considerations deserve the cycles of variations, of which Opus 45, on the theme of Spanish Folly, and Opus 107, on a well-known theme by Haendel, are presented on this CD. In this sphere Giuliani uncovers at his best the cards of an authentic composer, making an effective analysis of the theme’s latent expressive content, in order to achieve a style of variation always consonant with the generating idea.
(from the introductory notes by Giulio Tampalini)