Luigi Piovano and Antonio Pappano have been friends and collaborators for fifteen years now and recently have come together again to make their first and intoxicating CD together (Arcana A479). The two artists have finally recorded their interpretation, following scores of live performances in many major concert halls (Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Bruxelles…) of the Brahms Sonatas for cello and piano and of a lesser-known gem of late 18th-century chamber music: Two Romances, Op. 72, by Giuseppe Martucci.

Of particular interest are the two instruments featured in this recording – the sumptuous Alessandro Gagliano 1710 cello which Luigi Piovano plays, and the splendid “Centennial” New York Steinway from 1878 – as well as the atmospheric place where the CD was made: not an impersonal studio but a splendid villa set in the harmony of the Tuscan countryside

Link YouTube: Interview on the recording of the Brahms-Martucci CD