Giacomo Gorzanis (c.1530-c.1575), ‘il Cieco Pugliese’, was one of the great lute virtuosos of the sixteenth century. Born in Apulia, by 1557 he had settled in Trieste, where he soon established close contacts with the nobility of Carinthia and Carniola. His travels also took him to Graz, where he performed for Charles II, Archduke of Austria and brother of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. Four books of his lute music and two books of ‘napolitane’ were published in Venice between 1561 and 1579. Of particular interest is his manuscript of 1567, containing twenty-four pairs of dances in all the ‘major’ and ‘minor’ modes. From intimate lute fantasias to lively dances and playful ‘villanelle alla napolitana,’ this original and colorful programme is the first to present the full range of his works. Full of little-known treasures, it is enriched by the extraordinary voice and presence of the charismatic Puglian singer Pino De Vittorio.
