Judged by his best works, Gian Francesco Malipiero was arguably the most impressive, and certainly the most original, member of that unjustly neglected generation of Italian composers born around 1880. The most substantial of the four works on this recording, the Sette invenzioni, originally intended for use as the soundtrack to the film Acciaio (‘Steel’), presents an evers-hifting kaleidoscope of evocative imagery, enhanced by a bright, colourful orchestral fabric. The remaining works show Malipiero in a lighter, tuneful and neo-18th century vein, concluding with Vivaldiana, a reorchestration of material from the works of his famous Venetian predecessor.