The most emblematic work in Boccherini's descriptive music is his quintet for two cellos La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid, which "represents" a cross-section of the night in Madrid, from the sound of the Ave Maria of the city's church bells to the soldiers' patrol announcing the curfew. In the short time frame of five movements / episodes, the different souls of the Madrid night are recalled. This is reinforced in his revision of the quintet by extending the last movement with the addition of 11 variations on the curfew patrol theme. Both versions of the quintet are included in this recording, along with the other five that make up Opus 30, which Boccherini described as an 'opera piccola' due to its two-movement structure. In them, Boccherini explores different expressive characters, both within the individual movements and in their juxtaposition, making use of special features of his art such as the skilful use of modulations and harmonic contrasts, the subtle balancing of melody and structure and the emphasis on rhythm in the characterization of musical ideas.

The second set of quintets for two cellos that Boccherini composed, numbered Op. 31, is described as an "opera grande" and contains compositions in more than two movements. The interplay of characters that Boccherini develops in these quintets seems to be even more multifaceted and nuanced overall than in his Op. 30 quintets. In these quintets, as in the Musica notturna and in other chamber works by Boccherini, the sacred and the profane meet in the name of musical pathos and confront the listener with an ethical and existential, but also an aesthetic question. It is up to each of us to find an answer based on our own feelings.

Further information:
- Recorded in October 2014, January 2015, January and June 2016, Padua, Italy
- The booklet in English contains liner notes by Matteo Giuggioli and a profile of the ensemble
- The continuation of an extremely successful and popular series on Brilliant Classics: the string quintets by Boccherini (1743-1805)! The string quintet series, of which 17 CDs have already been released, has brought to light many hidden treasures, masterpieces of chamber music in the pure classical style, full of vitality, wit and winning charm.
- This new recording contains the string quintets Op. 30 and 31, of which Op. 30 No. 6 is the most remarkable: this quintet with two cellos La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid "shows" a cross-section of the night in Madrid, from the sound of the Ave Maria of the city's church bells to the passage of the soldiers' patrol announcing the curfew. The different souls of the Madrid night are recalled in five movement episodes: the religious and pious (Ave Maria delle Parrocchie, Rosario), the carefree and goliardic (Minuetto dei ciechi, Passa Calle) and the military (Ave Maria del Quartiere, Ritirata). In this quintet, every musical means is used in an extremely original way. As Boccherini himself notes in the score, the faithful representation of real life is so central to this work that "everything that does not conform to the rules of composition must be justified by the truth of what is represented".
- Performed by Luigi Puxeddu (cello) and I Virtuosi della Rotonda, with Federico Guglielmo (violin), Alessia Pazzaglia (violin), Davide Zaltron (viola) and Riccardo Giovine (cello).