Popular folk songs and dances by an early-Romantic guitar pioneer, performed on a notable instrument from the era.

A series of Brilliant Classics albums has uncovered the beguiling output of Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) and revealed his importance to a modern audience. Concertos (BC92621), duos (BC93381), songs (BC94479) and arrangements of Rossini, Cimarosa and others demonstrate Giuliani’s verve and versatility in marrying Spanish guitar traditions to the emerging Italian bel canto style.

Giuliani always had an ear for a memorable tune, whether his or someone else’s. There are two versions here of The Last Rose of Summer, and one of The Blue Bells of Scotland, though the Puglian composer never travelled beyond the shores of mainland Europe. The fashionable genre of variations on an operatic theme – of which Giuliani produced some 60 examples – is represented here by a set on ‘Io ti vidi e t’adorai’, from the opera Amazilia by Giovanni Pacini, who enjoyed a vastly more celebrated reputation than he does today.

Stefano Cardi has also made selections from longer collections such as the Divertimenti notturni, the Choix de mes fleurs cheries and Zwölf neue Wald-Ländler: all brief, simple and yet colourful melodies. He plays them here on an original 1821 guitar made by Gennaro Fabricatore. Though it now resides in the possession of a Genovese museum, the instrument was originally owned by the writer and political activist Giuseppe Mazzini, who spearheaded the republican movement towards a unified Italy. In fact, as the booklet note reveals, Mazzini was also an enthusiastic amateur guitarist. This album thus holds a fascination as a multi-layered cultural artefact.