L’ultimo romano – Giovanni Zamboni
“Giovanni Zamboni Romano, originally from Rome, was a fine expert in musical counterpoint and virtuoso on the theorbo, lute, harpsichord, chitarra sminuita, mandola and mandolin, and also a skilled professional sharpener of oriental stones for jewels.” Such is our lute player described by the chronicler Ranieri Busoni.The Sonatas for lute in tablature (Sonate d’intavolatura di leuto) of 1718 are the last Italian works for lute printed in tablature, likely prepared by Zamboni, who was deft at handling stones and jewellery. The style of these sonatas reveals a deep knowledge of counterpoint that is typical of the Roman school, to which he claimed to belong and which justified the Romano epithet after his surname. Inheriting the knowledge passed on by Lorenzino, Kapsberger, and Colista, Zamboni – the last Roman – brings to life the lute of the 18th century, fusing traditional Roman writing made up of virtuous gigues, chacones, and correnti with the new melancholy sarabande and gravi in Stile Galante.
Simone Vallerotonda: arciliuto