L'eco di Bergamo 2021

Mozart was just 14 years old when he composed Mitridate, re di Ponto for performance in Milan. An opera seria set in ancient times, it boasts a sequence of spectacular arias for its cast of strongly contrasting characters. At the centre of the action is Mitridate himself – the historical Mithridatus, King of Pontus, a ruler of Persian-Greek ancestry who was a formidable opponent of the Roman empire.

A distinguished and versatile musician, Attilio Ariosti was born in Bologna. He joined the Servite order, but in 1696 he was in the service of the Duke of Mantua, travelling thence to Berlin at the request of the Electress Sophie Charlotte and continuing as a composer of operas and other music. Recalled by his religious superiors, he returned by way of Vienna, where he spent some years intermittently in the service of the court. Good Friday in 1705: Emperor Leopold I chose a macabre story from the Old Testament for devotion for himself and the court. An oratorio that was to underpin the unbreakable faith of virtually the entire Holy Roman Empire. Attilio Ariosti created profound, groundbreaking music for it, which shows it's creator's exceedingly great sensorium for drama.

Mozart was just 14 years old when he composed Mitridate, re di Ponto for performance in Milan. An opera seria set in ancient times, it boasts a sequence of spectacular arias for its cast of strongly contrasting characters. At the centre of the action is Mitridate himself – the historical Mithridatus, King of Pontus, a ruler of Persian-Greek ancestry who was a formidable opponent of the Roman empire.

A product of German, Slav and Italian influences, Antonio Smareglia (1854-1929) is a thoroughly Mitteleuropean composer yet very much his own man, a perfect example of the music of the Trieste-Istria area.Il Vassallo di Szigeth inaugurated the Vienna Hofoper (today Staatsoper) season on 4 October 1889 which was also the name-day of the Emperor Franz Josef who attended the performance and was as enthusiastic as the rest of the audience. The highly favorable reaction of the powerful critic Eduard Hanslick and Johannes Brahms (both were ferociously anti-Wagner) proves that Smareglia's opera was anything but Wagnerian, in spite of the musician admiration for Wagner. The Vienna Hofoper took their production of Il Vassallo di Szigeth on tour to New York, making it the most celebrated opera in the repertoire and enabling Smareglia to build on its success in 1893 with Cornill Schutt.

The recording of the third book of madrigals by Biagio Pesciolini, from Prato, is the outcome of a research on the figure of this composer that had begun in 2015. From this investigation, it emerged that no work of his has been published in modern notation until now. So the project started with a study on the sources and with the transcription of the third book of his madrigals, the only one that has been preserved in its entirety to this day. After a careful analysis of the work, it was possible to bring back to life this lost music, which turned out to be highly rich in nuances, contrasts and colours. So a missing piece of the musical history of the city of Prato and the Medici court of that time has finally been put back in its place. Elia Orlando conducts the Tuscæ Voces Ensemble, with the use of historical instruments.

On peut toujours compter sur Marc Minkowski et Les Musiciens du Louvre pour ruer dans les brancards, et c’est sans surprise que les premiers accords pleins d'élan de cet opéra écrit par Mozart alors qu'il n'avait que quatorze ans, percent l'air comme un glorieux ballon de canon musical multicolore. Texture hérissée, énergie ardente, c'est ce son d'ensemble pétillant - le doux râle des bois et des cuivres d'époque, le mordant résineux des cordes en boyau, leur polissage technique, les détails de l'interprétation et l'exubérante joie de vivre - qui vous frappe constamment de nouveau. Le solo suivant ne se fait pas attendre bien longtemps, car la sonnerie lumineuse de la marche de l'Acte I est déjà sur vous avant même que vous le sachiez.

These string quartets by Nicolas Bacri, who has written eleven quartets to this day, are at the heart of the composer’s thought process and illustrate perfectly his 2009 statement: "Why not see contemporary creation as the recreation of a modernity whose origins should be re-interpreted each time, re-played, looked at from the angle of an ‘original trauma’, a new outpouring from the traditional core, an aesthetic tension that is sometimes heightened and sometimes eased, that reinvents the nature of its rupture with tradition each time, whilst simultaneously building upon it?

Italian pianist, conductor and composer Cettina Donato is proud to announce the May 14, 2021 release of her latest album, I Siciliani, featuring renowned actor Antonio ‘Ninni’ Bruschetta. Their second collaboration, this wondrous musical portrait of Sicily comes to life thanks to Donato and Bruschetta’s remarkable synergy and expansive musical vision. Featuring eleven of Donato’s expressive compositions, I Siciliani features the work of the late Italian poet Antonio Caldarella.