Ruggiero Leoncavallo is one of the Italian composers of the second half of the 19th century and the begining of the 20th century who are still known for their lyrical creations. These composers had a great influence in the music of their time and had great success during their lifetime as creators of operettas, symphonic poems and chamber music. In 1892, in Milano Ruggiero Leoncavallo, a promoter of verismo in music, wrote the opera "Pagliacci" starting from his own libretto. The opera brought him fame and it is still included in the repertoire of the great lyrical theaters of the world. Besides this one, he composed a couple operettas and musical pieces for piano. In fact, the piano became part of his life and his pursuits since childhood when he used to study it with his mother. Later on, he deepened the piano at the Music Conservatory of Naples with professor Beniamino Cesi. Thus, being fond of the sound of the piano, the composer created scores for this instrument at different stages of his carreer. Today, the scores are almost unknown, thus representing an interesting repertoire to be explored by musicians as well as the public.

The musical pieces for piano by Ruggiero Leoncavallo were recorded entierly during the month of May 2022, at the Classica Viva studios in Italy, by Ingrid Carbone, a well-appreciated pianist and the president of Calabria International Piano Festival. Ingrid Carbone has studied at the Conservatory of Music of Cosenza, her hometown, then she has evolved at prestigious academies in Italy alongside pianists such as Sergio Cafaro, Hector Pell, Ronan O'Hora and Lazar Berman. She has had recitals and concerts in Europe and Asia as a soloist as well as a chamber music performer.

Additionally, she was part of the jury of the Citta di Barletta and Mauro Paolo Monopoli Award. In 2018, she founded the musical foundation Clara Schumann and in 2020 became residential artist at Casa Bechstein. Ingrid Carbone has a large repertoire focused mainly on romantic creation and has released four albums so far-all of them recorded at the Da Vinci Classics label: two CDs with music by Franz Liszt and one with opuses by Franz Schubert, the most recent album being the one consisting of the complete works for piano by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, released on the 27th of june 2022.

Ruggiero Leoncavallo composed about 40 opuses for piano-serenades, nocturnes, minuets, pieces inspired by Italian and Spanish folklore, baroque works, waltzes and other miniatures. All of these pieces have in common the romantic essence, a nostalgic and dancey atmosphere specific to the musical aristocratic salons at the end of the 19th century. These scores are hard to find and to study because they haven't been published in full. This makes the intiative of the pianists who recorded them all more praise worthy: one version by Marco Sollini appeared in 2019, before the release of this album by pianist Ingrid Carbone, which offers a convincing lyrical and elegant interpretation, in the spirit of Ruggiero Leoncavallo's music.