Dr. Augustynowicz,
This letter comes from David N. “Uncle Dave” Lewis, co-host of “The Early Music Show” on WTJU radio in Charlottesville, Virginia in the United States. I wanted to personally thank you for the very fine disc of Lonati Sinfonias that came to me courtesy of the US distributor for Brilliant Classics.
I first learned of Lonati a little more than ten years ago when I was a classical music editor at the All Music Guide in Ann Arbor, Michigan; also US. At that time, I struck up a correspondance with the veteran, avant-garde minimalist composer Tony Conrad whose first wife, Beverly or “B.” I had met when I was younger — she was a film-maker and actress, and died probably 30 years ago. Tony and B. had met in Andy Warhol’s circle in the early 1960s. Tony was a violinist, and I knew that he had an interest in Baroque violin composers like Biber, so one day I sent him some music of Heinricus Albicastro which to me sounded very crazy and weird and I thought he would like it. He did, and in return he sent a CDR that was marked “Lonati,” no notes, titles or any other information. I later traced this back to an old Italian CD, the only thing of Lonati’s available at the time, some of the solo sonatas. I thanked him, and I enjoyed the disc, but I did not understand what Tony heard in it that I didn’t.
Thanks to you and your wonderful group, I now understand that Tony related Lonati to minimalistic music of the sort he composed himself, and I am very, very sorry that he died four or five years ago and did not live to hear this fabulous CD. I will be playing two of the Sinfonias on my radio program Monday night, and am very excited by the prospect of future releases from Giardino di Delizie. I have “liked” your page on facebook.
The day I got the package the disc came in I was informed by the US distributor of Brilliant that they will no longer be circulating CDs to reviewers or radio programmers, such as myself. So please keep me informed of releases that you put out so that I am aware of them.
Thank you very, very kindly,
David Neal “Uncle Dave” Lewis
Co-Host, “The Early Music Show”