Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, conductor and composer, was a contemporary of Puccini. Like Puccini, his music is characterized by the graceful combination of bel canto lyricism and refined orchestration. «La Canzone dei Ricordi» (The Song of Remembrance) is a beautiful song cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra marked by an admirable homogeneity and unity of inspiration; it is an expression of nostalgic dreams, regrets of days and things long past. His delicate «Notturno» for orchestra is perhaps his most frequently performed composition, rich in colors and poetic contrasts.

The relationship between Martucci and Ottorino Respighi was one of teacher and pupil. Respighi attended and graduated from Martucci’s composition class, developing in particular the lyrical aspects of his style under the tutelage of the elder composer, who was quick to say that Respighi was not a student but a maestro! Respighi’s «Il Tramonto» (The Sunset) for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra is a work of pure musical poetry. It is intensely expressive, transparently orchestrated and colored by delicate harmonies.

Swiss mezzo-soprano Brigitte Balleys performs these Italian vocal masterpieces with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under the direction of Jesus Lopez-Cobos.