This new release kicks off the new Benedetto Marcello series which will display his entire keyboard output. Volume I is titled Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the library in which these manuscripts were preserved. The Italian harpsichordist and conductor, Ottavio Dantone, graduated in organ and harpsichord from the Conservatory "Giuseppe Verdi" in Milan. He began his career very young, dedicating his studies to early music and collaborating with various orchestras and acquiring considerable experience in basso continuo, the art of which he is now considered an authority. In 1985 he was awarded the Basso Continuo prize at the International Paris Festival and in 1986 he received an award at the International Bruges Festival (two of the most renowned harpsichord festivals in the world), being the first Italian to have achieved this recognition at international level for the harpsichord.