Luigi Gordigiani was a prominent figure in 19th-century Florence who became known as the ‘Italian Schubert’. Like his Viennese counterpart, Gordigiani’s creativity found its best expression in songs for voice and piano that earned him international renown in a period when opera reigned supreme in Italy. Gordigiani’s style found a balance between brilliant, almost operatic drawing-room writing, and a deliberately regional vernacular language that gave his songs an honest and innocent character. All of his songs are graceful and delightful, and at the heart of his output are the Popular Tuscan Songs, which captivated the likes of Rossini, Meyerbeer and Chopin.