Graziani / Belmondo Neapolitan Songs & Famous Melodies CD

Letizia Belmondo - one of the major interpreters of the harp scene and winner of the most important international competitions - is the exceptional interpreter of the fascinating music included on this release, dedicated to the historical revaluation of the great Neapolitan melody, brought on the harp by the masters of the Italian harp school between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is precisely in Naples itself that these composers were active, and in their compositions evoked the wonder and spontaneity of melodies that became famous all over the world. On addition to these pieces, we have transcriptions of some of the most famous arias of the eighteenth-century in a colorful mixture of folk music and operatic and theatrical tradition. Born in Turin in 1981, Letizia Belmondo began to study harp at the age of eight at the Suzuki Talent Center in Turin. She continued her studies at the G Verdi Conservatory in Turin, and later the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon as well as The Juilliard School. In 2001, Belmondo won first prize at the prestigious International Harp Contest in Israel, as well as the Ester Herlitz Prize awarded for the best performance of a contemporary piece. She has gone on to win numerous other competitions and prizes, including the International Harp Competition in Lausanne and special prize for the best performance of the Prelude by Jolivet. She is currently Professor of Harp at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne.