Simone Vallerotonda - Zamboni: L'ultimo Romano. Sonate d'Intavolatura di Leuto, 1718 (2016) [Hi-Res]

Giovanni Zamboni Romano, originally from Rome, was a fine expert in musical counterpoint and virtuoso on the theorbo, lute, harpsichord, diminished guitar, mandola and mandolin, and also a good professional sharpener of oriental stones for jewels”. In that way our lute player is described by Ranieri Busoni. The Sonate d’Intavolatura per Leuto of 1718 are the last Italian work for lute, printed in tablature. Maybe written by himself on the sheets, being skilled in handling stones and jewelry, the style of these sonatas, reveals a deep knowledge of counterpoint, typical of the Roman school, to which he claimed to belong, adding the epithet «Roman» after his surname. Inheriting the knowledge passed on by Lorenzino, Kapsberger, and Colista, Zamboni, the last «Roman», brings to life the lute in the 18th century, fusing traditional Roman writing, made up of virtuous gighe, ciaccone and correnti, with the new melancholy sarabande and gravi in the galant style.

Simone Vallerotonda, arciliuto