Nuits D'ete a Pausilippe

Gaetano Donizetti, the great Italian opera composer, stayed between 1822 and 1838 in Naples, in a house in the luxuriant hillside area Posillipo, overlooking the island Megaride, where the siren Parthenope failed to charm Odysseus and threw herself into the sea. The beautiful surroundings inspired Donizetti to compose a series of vocal chamber music, songs for soprano, tenor and piano in French, the fashionable language of the time. "Nuits d'été à Pausilippe" contains 6 arias and 6 notturnos, highly atmospheric and evocative songs, in seductive bel canto style. o Also included on this new recording are the Soirées d'automne à l'Infrascata, the successor of the previous song cycle. Soprano Letizia Calandra is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Neapolitan songs. Her unique, versatile voice, schooled in opera and

early music, is the perfect carrier for this genre, a blend of the artful and the folklore, the high and low culture of Napoli. The booklet contains a detailed description of each song.