Who on earth sends postcards from their holidays these days? If the ones on paper shop racks are anything to go by, not many. You’ll usually find a few dusty old leftover cards getting bleached by the sun, corners dog-eared from the sea air.

It’s quite a shame really, because the format is perfect. A nice picture on the front and some, but not too much, space on the back to write on. Small enough to be handy, but big enough to decorate pinboards or fridges.

It is this format that inspired Antonio Malinconico’s new album:

Postcards for Guitar. It features little gems from different countries and continents – mainly those, to which the musician’s travels have taken him. The composers include Jorge Cardoso, Astor Piazzolla, Antonio Lauro, Luigi Legnani, Baden Powell, Sergio Assad and Helmuth Hefti, a composer from St Gallen and music school director. It is he who encouraged Malinconico to launch this album project.

Hefti had himself written several pieces for a “Postcards for Guitar” collection.

He asked Malinconico whether he might be interested in playing one of them. To which the latter replied: “Why not record an entire album?” Hefti’s compositions were to his musical taste and also appealed thanks to the captivating yet funny stories upon which they are based. “Airship Zeppelin over Dresden”, for instance, is inspired by a picture book about Dresden, a place that fascinated Hefti when he was a young boy. It is a compilation of birds-eye-view photographs of the city before it was destroyed in 1945, taken airborne from a Zeppelin. “Chili for Lily” and “Preludio for Julio” are loving dedications to Hefti’s grandchildren with a humorous twist.

These three compositions form the basis for “Postcards for Guitar”, with the addition of other postcard-like musical snippets from around the world.