Valeria Montanari - Cantate E Sinfonie - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Bloodstain is among the most promising young heavy bands to emerge from Sweden in recent years. Formed in Stockholm in late 2023, the band has quickly established a reputation for combining classic metal and hard rock fundamentals with the urgency, confidence, and stage instinct of a modern live act. Rather than relying on narrow revivalism, Bloodstain draws from a broader heavy music tradition strong riffs, memorable hooks,dynamic songwriting, and a clear understanding of how songs must translate both on record and on larger stages. Their self-titled debut album, Bloodstain, marks the first full statement of the band's identity. It presents a young act with clear intent disciplined songwriting, a distinct visual profile, and an ambition that already extends beyond the club level. While the material carries the weight and directness of classic heavy music, the production and arrangement choices give the record a contemporary force that positions it firmly in the present rather than the past.

The present is a world premiere recording of the complete edition of the Sacri Musicali Affetti by Barbara Strozzi, a figure of great importance among the various women musicians of the seventeenth century. Her works went on printed editions for her to be recognized and appreciated as a composer, and not just as an instrumentalist or singer. She was on the Venetian intellectual scene thanks to her connection with the poet and playwright Giulio Strozzi (of whom Barbara is most likely an illegitimate daughter), a fundamental figure in the institution of the Venetian musical theater, and soon appreciated by musicians and writers of cultural circles from Venice. The Aurata Fonte ensemble, specializing in the Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, accompanies the sopranos Anna Simboli and Miho Kamiya with period instruments in the performance of this collection of sacred motets for solo voice where the composer's mastery and refinement is revealed by alternating theatrical and dramatic effects in the name of a marked vocal virtuosity. To be noted at one point the explicit mentioning of the great Claudio Monteverdi, placing by right her work in his musical wake.

Il martirio di Santa Caterina by castrato singer, composer and writer Pier Francesco Tosi is a fine example of the rich tradition of late-Baroque oratorio. It is the embodiment of Tosi's famous treatise on a vocal style that emphasised expressive authenticity over virtuoso display. This story of the martyrdom of Catherine of Alexandria for refusing to convert to paganism is filled with deeply poignant music that depicts her prodigious inner strength, representing the power of faith through grief, courage, compassion, and admiration for the fortitude of others