Throughout the 17th century and a good part of the 18th, Naples was one of the major centres of European music: conservatories, opera houses (including the famous San Carlo which, at the time it was completed, was the biggest in the world), and church concerts meant that the town was brimming over with music of every genre. And so it is no surprise that Naples was home to a flourishing host of artists like Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, Porpora, Hasse, Vinci, Durante or Cimarosa, to name only the most famous. This album brings together several works from Neapolitan composers, who were clearly aiming to charm, seduce and entertain. The listener will appreciate the great range of ornamental details and the exploitation of rich harmonic schemas, all undergirding great melodic innovation. So, in short, it's the real "Neapolitan style". A word on the composer, Caudioso, who was completely unknown to his peers, to the point where one wonders whether the contemporary copyist hasn't simply misspelled the more famous name of Cimarosa. Note that all these works are offered here in their first-ever recordings – on period instruments, at least. The concertos are shared out between three soloists, respected specialists in the baroque mandolin (and the mandola, the baroque and Renaissance guitar, the mandolone, various lutes...): Juan Carlos Muñoz, Mari Fe Pavón and Alla Tolkacheva, accompanied by the Artemandoline ensemble. © SM/Qobuz