The years between c.1695 and c.1760 saw a relative boom of instrumental works composed by Neapolitans for recorder. The majority came down to us only in manuscript form – is all the more surprising when considering that almost all the composers who make up this special repertoire were opera composers. The recorder was never an institutionalised instrument, it did not belong to the instrumentarium necessarily employed in commercial music-making of the time, and as such it must have clearly enjoyed some private (and didactic) favour in the Fedelissima Città.

Inês d’Avena and her companion musicians take us for a fascinating journey into this Neapolitan repertoire for recorder, using two inspiring instruments with enchanting musical colours and above all rendering this great music with a fascinating and convincing performance.