The voice of baritone Matteo Mencarelli – accompanied by Filippo Farinelli on the piano – magnificently interprets the chamber music anthology presented in this release: a journey through Italian lieder repertoire spanning the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. The overview of the featured composers (including a world premiere recording of works by Francesco Morlacchi) traces an intriguing path in which the use of poetic texts by both ancient and contemporary authors defines the thread running through the CD. From the literary sources employed by the composers of the Italian Historical 20th century – ranging from Dante Alighieri to Gabriele D’Annunzio, via 19th century German poetry and unique figures such as the Neapolitan poetess Laura Beatrice Mancini-Oliva – spring musical masterpieces in which the composers seek and find emancipation from the dominance of 19th-century theatrical melodrama, thereby realigning the genre of vocal chamber music with the European lied tradition.