Franco Margola - Complete Sonatas for Solo Guitar (Valerio Celentano)

Information

Composer: Franco Margola

• Sonata (1972)
• Sonata Seconda (1979)
• Sonata Terza (1981)
• Sonata Quarta (1980)
• Sonata Quinta (Posth.2000)

Valerio Celentano, guitar

Date: 2026

Label: Brilliant Classics

_____________________

Franco Margola (1908–1992) holds a distinct position in twentieth-century Italian music, celebrated for blending neoclassical clarity, classical balance, and lyrical expression. Trained in the Italian conservatory tradition, the Brescia-born composer developed a refined style marked by transparent textures, structural rigor, and an elegant restraint that shunned romantic excess and radical avant-gardism. His major contributions include five guitar sonatas written over several decades, which emphasize musical architecture, motivic development, and subtle harmonic coloring rather than pure virtuosity. Integrating classical forms with modal inflections, gentle dissonance, and contrapuntal textures, Margola’s compositions highlight the guitar’s warm, expressive resonance through long, singing lines and rhythmic vitality.

Acclaimed Italian guitarist Valerio Celentano graduated with honors from the "Giuseppe Martucci" Conservatory in Salerno, advancing his training under masters like Oscar Ghiglia and Frédéric Zigante. An award-winning competition soloist holding degrees in Modern Literature and Ancient Music, he has performed with prominent baroque ensembles alongside artists like Pino De Vittorio. Specialized in baroque guitar and theorbo, Celentano balances active performance with musicological research. His current efforts focus on transcribing and recording neglected classical repertoire, including the complete guitar works of Georges Migot, pieces by Eugène Bozza, and forgotten concertos for guitar and orchestra.

High Resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz