GIUSEPPE FRUGATTA  

Just as fascinating, and virtually unknown, is the instrumental music of Giuseppe Frugatta (1860–1933), soloist, composer and piano teacher at the Milan Conservatory (1891–1930). His works, several of which were awarded prizes, have “a sense of modernity, sweeping vistas, a steady melodic flow [and] bold harmonisation”. His Clarinet Quintet in G minor, for example, received a prize from the International Society of London in 1899 and was then performed at court in Rome, in the presence of Queen Margherita, with Aurelio Magnani (1856–1921), one of the best Italian clarinettists of the day.