The Italian harpsichordist, organist and conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini is a specialist in historical performance practice and the music of Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Bach and their contemporaries. As such, he founded the baroque ensemble Concerto Italiano in the mid-1980s, which has since become a permanent fixture at most international festivals. Alessandrini's discography includes over 50 CD recordings. Several of them have received awards such as the Grand Prix du Disque, the Prix Caecilia or the German Record Prize. "1700" is the successor of the highly acclaimed compilation "1600" released in 2012. It brings together the most talented Italian composers from the first half of the 18th century: Locatelli, Mascitti, Vivaldi, Caldara, Durante, Galuppi and Pugnani. They were all connected by the experience of exile, as they served foreign courts during the heyday of their work. There they all paid homage to an "Italian style", but in the end it was based on the personal taste of the composer or the preferences of the respective ruler. Alessandrini succeeds wonderfully in giving this style a passionately fresh expression.
