Naoko Akutagawa, the performer, began studying piano at age three and switched to harpsichord at sixteen, eventually earning her Meisterklasse diploma in Germany.
Composer Biography
All that is known about Bernardo Storace, the composer, comes from the title page of his 1664 publication, where he is identified as vice maestro di cappella to the Senate of Messina.
Compositional Technique
The passacaglias in Storace's collection, including two on this album, feature no fewer than 320 variations on the descending tetrachord.
Compositional Technique
An unusual feature of Storace's long sets of dance variations, such as the Passacaglias and Ciaccona, is their transformation into dashing correnti and gagliarde towards the end, forming embryonic variation suites.
Historical Context
The scarcity of information about composer Bernardo Storace is likely due to the frequent earthquakes that devastated Sicily.
Instruments
The harpsichord used in this recording is a copy of a 1697 instrument by Carlo Grimaldi of Messina, a builder whom composer Bernardo Storace may have known personally.
Compositional Technique
Bernardo Storace's Selva di varie compositioni is considered one of the greatest outpourings of inventiveness in music history, particularly in its variations.
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