Romanticismo Italiano Quartetto Altemps

• Stefano Golinelli (1818 - 1891): String Quartet Op. 100, No. 1 in B Minor:
• 1 Golinelli: String Quartet Op. 100, No. 1 in B Minor: I. Allegro 10:09
• 2 Golinelli: String Quartet Op. 100, No. 1 in B Minor: II. Andante 04:07
• 3 Golinelli: String Quartet Op. 100, No. 1 in B Minor: III. Presto 03:17
• 4 Golinelli: String Quartet Op. 100, No. 1 in B Minor: IV. Allegro agitato 05:07
• Vincenzo Antonio Petrali (1830 - 1889): String Quartet in G Major:
• 5 Petrali: String Quartet in G Major: I. Poco allegro 08:12
• 6 Petrali: String Quartet in G Major: II. Lento e mesto 11:00
• 7 Petrali: String Quartet in G Major: III. Scherzo. Quasi presto 06:39
• 8 Petrali: String Quartet in G Major: IV. Finale. Allegro vivace 04:54
• Total Runtime 53:25

Info for Romanticismo Italiano

Quartetto Altemps’new album Romanticismo Italiano brings to light two extraordinary yet long-overlooked voices of nineteenth-century Italy: Stefano Golinelli and Vincenzo Antonio Petrali. Conceived as a rediscovery of “two treasures of the Italian musical heritage” that fill the apparent void of Italian chamber music of the era, this world premiere recording reveals how two towering keyboard virtuosi a celebrated pianist and a renowned organist embraced the string quartet, the supreme chamber genre. In Golinelli’s String Quartet Op. 100 No. 1 in B minor (1854), operatic intensity and harmonic restlessness meet the structural clarity of the Austro-German tradition, evoking echoes of Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schubert while retaining a distinct Italian lyric impulse.

Petrali’s Quartet in G major, presented in its 1884 revised version, reflects a mature and deeply personal synthesis: Italian cantabile warmth intertwined with contrapuntal mastery inspired by Central European models. Rooted in meticulous research of original sources and manuscripts, Quartetto Altemps approaches this repertoire with the spirit of musicians performing music of their own time forward-looking, vibrant, and alive. The result is more than a historical reconstruction: it is a powerful artistic statement that restores these works to their rightful place, illuminating a forgotten chapter of Romantic Italy with passion, stylistic awareness, and compelling interpretative depth.

Quartetto Altemps

Quartetto Altemps
was created from the meeting of four musicians with great experience in the practice of historical performance and a common intent to propose a alternative reading of the great classical and romantic repertoire with an innovative and original vision. Thanks to the approach that in the last decades has revolutionised the conception and interpretation of seventeenth and eighteenth-century music, the quartet intends to address the repertoire with the spirit of musicians of the time, who performed music which was contemporary to them: with a forward-looking outlook rather than a retrospective one. This work is founded on the comparative study of original sources, manuscripts and first editions. The wide experience and in-depth expertise that the four musicians have developed within internationally renowned ensembles, such as Il Giardino Armonico, Europa Galante, Kammerorchester Basel, I Barocchisti and Il Suonar Parlante, has led them to undertake this chamber music journey with particular stylistic awareness and depth of interpretation.

Booklet for Romanticismo Italiano