Little is known about Francesco Zappa, Milanese composer and cellist of the mid-eighteenth century. This recording allows us, for the first time in modern times, to appreciate the qualities of a musician who, in his lifetime, was welcomed with general, broad esteem. His six Duets for violin and cello, published in Paris and presented here, sound like a polite parlor conversation. If Zappa chooses a classical gallant style, his music is never superficial, and he clearly proves a first-rate composer whose unmistakable trait is his Italian melodiousness.
