The silver Renaissance trombone and the ostentatious claviorganum were once glittering status symbols for Renaissance popes and Baroque princes. Duo GlossArte bring these treasures to life with a colourful journey of timbres around the Mediterranean that celebrates virtuosity as well as heartfelt emotion.

The bright, lyrical and contoured sound of the silver trombone is perfectly suited to virtuosic passages, from Renaissance ornamentation to Baroque stylus fantasticus. The expressive richness that Spanish historical trombone virtuoso, Juan González Martínez explores finds an imaginative and charismatic counterpart in Swiss-born organ and harpsichord specialist Lea Suter. 

From Venice to Seville, from Naples to Toledo – Duo GlossArte trace the virtuosos of the era. Salaverde’s Canzoni are characterised by rhythmic dance-like episodes and melodic twists reminiscent of Spanish folklore and its Moorish roots. Rhythm, harmony and figuration form a dramatic cycle in Frescobaldi‘s Partite sopra La Monica. His student, Rossi, pushes boundaries in his free fantasy Toccata settima which is full of chromaticism, surprising harmonies, and dramatic changes of mood.

One of the earliest compositions especially for the trombone is Rognoni's Susanna d'Orlando written in 1620 which showcases all the expressive possibilities of rhetoric and ornamentation. Rognoni also skilfully expresses the instrument’s lyrical qualities in Pulchra est anima mea.