Quartetto Altemps' new album Romanticismo Italiano shines a light on two extraordinary, long-overlooked voices from 19th-century Italy: Stefano Golinelli and Vincenzo Antonio Petrali. Conceived as a rediscovery of "two treasures of Italian musical heritage" that fill the apparent void in Italian chamber music of that era, this world premiere recording reveals how two outstanding keyboard virtuosos—a celebrated pianist and a renowned organist—turned to the string quartet, the pinnacle of chamber music.

In Golinelli's String Quartet Op. 100 No. 1 in B minor (1854), operatic intensity and harmonic restlessness meet the structural clarity of the Austro-German tradition; echoes of Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schubert are audible without losing the unmistakably Italian lyrical impulse.

Petrali's Quartet in G major, presented here in its revised 1884 version, reflects a mature and deeply personal synthesis: Italian cantabile warmth woven together with contrapuntal mastery inspired by Central European models.

Drawing on meticulous research of original sources and manuscripts, Quartetto Altemps approaches this repertoire with the spirit of musicians performing music of their own time: forward-thinking, vibrant, and full of expressive power. The result is more than a historical reconstruction: it is a powerful artistic statement that restores these works to their rightful place and illuminates a forgotten chapter of Romantic Italy with passion, stylistic awareness, and compelling interpretive depth.