Prelude

A casual nonchalance and natural elegance, a lightness behind which all effort disappears. This is the Italian idea of “sprezzatura”. Those who exhibit sprezzatura appear confident, stylish and unaffected. Like the young Handel, who in his twenties spent several years in Italy, where he was celebrated and admired as a keyboard virtuoso and composer. He is even said to have engaged in a musical competition with Domenico Scarlatti.

Alon Sariel and Marcin Świątkiewicz trace this particular Italianità with plenty of sprezzatura. And in the rare and alluring combination of mandolin and harpsichord. Domenico Scarlatti composed specifically for this combination. Handel also transformed his Organ Concerto No. 6 into a slimmer, albeit no less virtuosic, mandolin sonata.