Tondo di Michelangelo op. 284

Opening simply with a solo voice, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Italian settings of eight poems by Renaissance artist Michelangelo for baritone and piano take both the performers and audience on a striking journey through Michelangelo’s tortured and knotty Tuscan poetry. The piano is introduced in the second of the eight settings punctuating the vocal part with a variety of different textures from bell-like figuration to turbulent virtuosity.