Martucci, once director of conservatoires in both Bologna and Naples, and conductor of the first performance in Italy of Tristan, is a curious case of a composer totally unfamiliar to this country’s concert life but surprisingly well represented on disc. The loss is the concert world’s. His warmly nostalgic and tender Nocturne (in Italy a favourite) would make a worthy alternative to the Mahler Adagietto or Barber’s now overplayed Adagio; and the seven poems of his elegiac cycle, La canzone dei ricordi (‘The Song of Remembrance’) are haunting examples of a refined Italian lyricism a world away from his contemporary, Puccini. The setting of Shelley’s Il tramonto (‘Sunset’) by Martucci’s pupil Respighi is suitably poignant but more lush in texture. The admirable Brigitte Balleys sings with her accustomed artistry, but from time to time her voice ‘catches’ the mike: the playing of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra is seductively affectionate.'