Michele

In 1738 the acclaimed violinist and composer Michele Mascitti (1664-1760) published in Paris his ninth collection of sonatas. The seventy-four-year-old Neapolitan musician was at the end of his long and celebrated career, but not of his creative powers. Dedicated to the Crozat family, which was to be Mascitti’s patron until the end of his life, the twelve sonatas for violin and bass op.9 are fine examples of the graceful blend of Italian and French styles that made this composer so popular in France. With the world premiere of eight sonatas from Mascitti’s op. 9, the Quartetto Vanvitelli carries on the rediscovery of this music that Hubert Le Blanc likened ‘to the warbling of the nightingale’.

In his ‘new life’ as a baritone Plácido Domingo has triumphed in the role of Francesco Foscari in Los Angeles, London and Vienna. Now he takes to the role in La Scala, Milan, the theatre that is the symbol of Italian opera. I due Foscari, premiered in 1844, famously one of Verdi’s darkest operas, is staged by Alvis Hermanis, who made such an impact at the Salzburg Festival with Die Soldaten and Il trovatore. Domingo is joined by two of Italy’s most exciting singers, the soprano Anna Pirozzi and the tenor Francesco Meli, and the acclaimed Italian conductor Michele Mariotti. The Financial Times was deeply moved by Domingo’s performance, calling his interpretation of the role ‘sublime’.

In his ‘new life’ as a baritone Plácido Domingo has triumphed in the role of Francesco Foscari in Los Angeles, London and Vienna. Now he takes to the role in La Scala, Milan, the theatre that is the symbol of Italian opera. I due Foscari, premiered in 1844, famously one of Verdi’s darkest operas, is staged by Alvis Hermanis, who made such an impact at the Salzburg Festival with Die Soldaten and Il trovatore. Domingo is joined by two of Italy’s most exciting singers, the soprano Anna Pirozzi and the tenor Francesco Meli, and the acclaimed Italian conductor Michele Mariotti. The Financial Times was deeply moved by Domingo’s performance, calling his interpretation of the role ‘sublime’.

I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata is an operatic drama in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The work is based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was “very much a child of its age; a grand historical novel with a patriotic slant.” Verdi dedicated the score to Maria Luigia, the Habsburg Duchess of Parma, who died a few weeks after the premiere. "I Lombardi best encapsulates the spirit of the Italian people’s desire for nationhood. One would be pleasantly surprised, full as it is, of rousing choruses and musical numbers of great beauty, with music wonderfully expressive and perfectly in accord with drama at times.

I Musici di Santa Pelagia hanno partecipato a numerose rassegne musicali e a manifestazioni di risonanza internazionale sia in Italia sia all’estero. Roma Festival Barocco, MiTo, Les concerts à Saint-Germain (Ginevra) e Mille anni di Musica Italiana (Madrid), ottenendo ampi consensi di pubblico e critica.