Piano Works

CARDINI GENTILE AMMARA

Luca Lombardi is mainly known for his operas, oratorios, and cantatas, as well as orchestral works, including three symphonies. No doubt, he is a composer inspired by literature, by texts, by the “word” that helps him in his efforts to communicate with clarity, honesty, and humanity. But time and time again, during a creative career that has lasted for more than five decades, he has written for the piano, the instrument he studied when he was young and that, in a way, is the foundation of his musical endeavors. Fifteen of the nearly 150 works listed in the Catalogo delle opera di Luca Lombardi edited by Gabriele Becheri are for piano. True, some of them are youthful compositions, but, among the piano works, especially those wrotten in the 1970s, can be found some of the composer’s most poignant musical statements (in addition to his solo piano works, there should be mentioned Lombardi’s Klavierduo of 1978-79- a work full of virtuosity, wit, and charm- gratifying for performers and audiences alike). The piano music performed by three eminent Italian pianists on this disk provides an attractive sampling of the composer’s keyboard music: ranging from relatively early to his formative years, to 8 Saluti, the most recent manifestations of Lombardi’s love for his instrument.

Price: $25.98