Lino Liviabella was a well-known pianist and award-winning composer during the early to mid-20th century. He also achieved renown for his pioneering role within the movement that sought to emancipate Italian instrumental music from the influence of 19th-century opera. The spirit of Liviabella’s music manifests itself as a creative journey through evocative sounds, fleeting impressions and strong dynamic contrasts. From the rigorous and brilliantly virtuoso Sonata in un Tempo to the passionate Concerto for Violin and Piano and so much more besides, Liviabella’s chamber compositions represent the first important works for violin and piano written in Italy in the first half of the 20th century.

This album features violinist Hans Liviabella, the grandson of the composer. He is the first violin of the Quartetto Energie Nove, an ensemble with which he engages in an intense concert schedule and regularly records for the Dynamic label. For this recording he played the 1683 Dubray-Savile Stradivari and an 1848 Enrico Rocca (ex-Conte Ignazio di Salabue, ex-Annibale Fagnola). The instruments were lent for the occasion by Lugano’s “Adopt a Musician” association.