Not many people know that the famous Renaissance painter Giorgio Giorgione was also a gifted lute player. Giorgione is known to have played and sung the popular ballads of the time among groups of friends. To mark the anniversary of the Venetian artists death (Giorgione died in 1510), the Accademia Strumentale Italiana has issued a CD of music composed by Giorgione contemporaries, and in particular Marchetto Cara, a favourite musician of Isabella D'Este, the powerful ruler of the state of Mantova. Marchetto Caras melodies were published in Venice in 1504 and are considered to be the precursors of the modern concept of popular music, as opposed to classical music.

The CD, entitled Cantar  alla Venetiana in the times and places of Giorgione also features love songs by the early 16 th century Milanese composer Giovanni Ambrogio Dalza, as well as pieces by anonymous musicians, executed by the Accademia Strumentale Italiana, directed by Alberto Rasi.