Alessandro Piccinini, a contemporary of Monteverdi and Frescobaldi, hailed from a Bolognese family of lutenists that made its mark on Italian musical life for over one and a half centuries. Piccinini's two books of lute works are primarily influenced by the emergent Italian instrumental music, but French and Spanish influences can also be clearly heard. On the present recording, Monica Pustilnik performs selections from both books.

Soprano Rosa Feola, Cappella Neapolitana and Maestro Antonio Florio pay tribute to Niccolo Piccinni, master of the 18th -century Neapolitan opera tradition, with Son regina e sono amante. Deliberately avoiding his most famous work, La buona figliola, the album offers arias from his French and Italian operas, including some in Neapolitan vernacular. Given her origins, Feola is the ideal ambassador to bring the once famous Piccinni back into the limelight. Soprano Ros Feola has received many accolades for her achievements and is a regular guest at the most important opera houses worldwide.

With Forgotten arias countertenor Phillippe Jaroussky pays tribute to composers of the late Baroque era and to the great librettist of the age, Pietro Metastasio. All ten arias on the album, written between 1748 and 1770 by nine composers, are heard in world premiere recordings. Metastasio's librettos were set by multiple composers - Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck and Mozart among them - resulting in hundreds of operas. The more familiar names on the multi-faceted programme of Forgotten Arias are Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, Jommelli, Hasse and Piccinni. Less well-known are Bernasconi, Ferrandini, Traetta and Valentini. Jaroussky's partners on the album are the conductor Julien Chauvin and his orchestra Le Concert de la Loge. All in all, Forgotten Arias looks set to be highly memorable.

“Roma travestita” è il titolo dell’album di debutto discografico per il sopranista Bruno de Sá con l’etichetta Erato. Il repertorio esplorato dal giovane cantante brasiliano corrisponde al periodo storico in cui alle donne era proibito calcare i palcoscenici teatrali a Roma ed erano gli uomini ad interpretare ruoli operistici femminili. Otto delle tredici arie dell’album vengono presentate in prima registrazione assoluta. Il progetto vede la collaborazione dell’orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro diretta da Francesco Corti per l’esecuzione di arie del XVIII secolo di Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vinci, Galuppi e Piccinni, e di autori meno frequentati come Capua, Arena, Cocchi, Conforto e Garcìa Fajer. In scena Bruno de Sá ha già cantato in ruoli come Sesto nel Giulio Cesare di Händel e ne La clemenza di Tito di Mozart, Barbarina ne Le nozze di Figaro di Mozart e La Sirenetta nell’adattamento operistico della favola di Hans Christian Andersen composto da Jherek Bischoff.