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The Greco Brothers & Friends - Works for basse de violon, violoncello and keyboard
Francesco Mancini - Rocco Greco - Gaetano Greco

The Greco Brothers & Friends - Works for basse de violon, violoncello and keyboard

I Mastricelli

Label: Challenge Classics
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917200218
barcode
Catalog number: CC 720021
Releasedate: 06-02-26

- First-ever recording dedicated to the Greco brothers
- A world-premiere exploration of long-lost Neapolitan masterpieces from original manuscripts.
- Historically informed yet spontaneous
- Deep scholarly research meets vivid, improvisation-based performance.
- A unique recording featuring historical cellos, bass viols, lutes, and harpsichord built after 17th- and 18th-century models.
- Debut of I Mastricelli on Challenge Classics 
- Revival of the partimento tradition

This recording takes the listener deep into the heart of late-seventeenth-century Naples, where brothers Rocco and Gaetano Greco were central figures in the city’s thriving musical life. Their works, grounded in the practice of partimento — an improvisational method built around a given bass line — showcase the cello’s emancipation from a purely accompanying role into a fully expressive solo voice. Through vivid dialogues between lower string instruments and harpsichord, I Mastricelli revives a forgotten musical language in which virtuosity, counterpoint, and improvisation converge. The result is a rare glimpse into the creative processes that shaped the Neapolitan cello school and its lasting influence across Europe.

The second part of the programme focuses on Gaetano Greco’s pedagogical legacy, presenting short dances, toccatas, and improvisations drawn from early-eighteenth-century student notebooks, alongside music by Francesco Mancini. I Mastricelli highlights the diversity of Neapolitan musical culture — from the earthy energy of the tarantella to the refined contrapuntal art of the keyboard. The ensemble’s instrumentation — including cellos, bass viols, bass violins, theorbo, lute, guitar, and harpsichord — evokes the rich timbral world of Baroque Naples. Combining scholarly research with living performance, this debut album offers both an artistic rediscovery and a celebration of the improvisatory freedom at the core of the partimento tradition.