Napoli—Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano (Steinway 30086)
We are catching up with NE Ohio pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi. This 2018 CD is a follow up to his 2013 album The Rascal and the Sparrow, which juxtaposed solo piano arrangements by Italian pianist/composer Roberto Piana of songs by Francis Poulenc and Edith Piaf. For Napoli, Pompa-Baldi and Piana turned to the music of their home country of Italy, specifically the trove of songs from the Neapolitan region. This collection of “improvisations” includes well-known songs like Torna a Surriento and Funiculí Funiculá and unjustly hidden gems like Serenata Medioevale, Maria Marì and Il Cardillo. Piana’s level of intervention varies from mainly enriching the harmonic language, to introducing entirely new musical forms and concepts to the relatively simple melodies. For instance, Piana combines the famous tune Torna a Surriento by Ernesto de Curtis with the Sonata Kk 27 of Domenico Scarlatti—a contrapuntal meeting between two Neapolitans from distant epochs!