Niccolò Castiglioni’s music has at its heart a quest for different timbres and new musical perspectives. After the neo-Classical exercises of his student years he moved towards serial techniques with explorations of contrast and transformation. Castiglioni made his name with Inizio di movimento, consolidating this with Cangianti in which the piano becomes a ‘lyrical instrument of the most tender poetry’. The award-winning Italian pianist Aldo Orvieto continues his survey of piano works by one of Italy’s most unique 20th-century composers.

This release follows on from a first volume (GP862) that appeared in October 2022 and was warmly received by critics such as Jack Sullivan of the American Record Guide: ‘Aldo Orvieto, who specializes in 20th-century Italian music, plays in a lucid, sharply chiselled style, perfect for the brasher pieces; in the lyrical ones he has a warm legato.’ Robert McCarney of Classical Music Daily also wrote that ‘Aldo Orvieto, who not only plays all these pieces but also produced the recording, definitely has the measure of Castiglioni’s unique universe and does this music proud.’

This edition of Niccolò Castiglioni’s complete piano works includes numerous world-première recordings, and of the rare early works recorded in volume 2 both the Cinque Innodie and Tre Studi appear here for the first time in commercial release. Castiglioni’s profile inevitably remains somewhat niche, but it has steadily risen through numerous releases on the Stradivarius label and with his inclusion in the repertoire of pianist Idil Biret and others. This Grand Piano edition will be an essential resource in any collection of Castiglioni’s music, and with its abundance of premières and rarities it is becoming one of the most fascinating ongoing projects from this label.

Aldo Orvieto studied at the Venice Conservatory. He owes much of his musical development to Aldo Ciccolini, with whom he recorded Busoni’s Fantasia contrappuntistica, released by Naxos in 2020 (8574086). Orvieto has recorded programmes and concerts for the main European radio broadcasters, and has recorded more than 90 albums dedicated to 20th-century composers. He has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra Della Toscana and Ensemble 2e2m, appearing at venues such as Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Arena di Verona and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In 2019, he won the Italian Music Critics’ Abbiati Prize for an album of chamber works by Claudio Ambrosini.

Award-winning pianist Aldo Orvieto has recorded close to 100 albums dedicated to 20th-century composers, including a five-volume edition of the complete piano music of Camillo Togni on Naxos, in which ‘Mr Orvieto plays beautifully’ (American Record Guide). Orvieto has recorded programmes and concerts for most of the main European radio broadcasters, has performed as a soloist with numerous internationally acclaimed orchestras and ensembles, and has given many world-première performances, in particular of works by Maderna, Togni, Clementi, Sciarrino, De Pablo, Claudio Ambrosini, Stefano Gervasoni, Luca Francesconi, Azio Corghi and Fabio Nieder.