Orchestra

Francesco Corti (Arezzo, 1984) studied organ and harpsichord in Perugia, Geneva and Amsterdam. Prized at the Bach-Wettbewerb Leipzig (2006) and at the Bruges Harpsichord Competition (2007). Member of Les Musiciens du Louvre, Ensemble Zefiro, Bach Collegium Japan, Harmonie Universelle, Concert des Nations, Les Tamens Lyriques. Conducts regularly Les Musiciens du Louvre, is invited as guest conductor by il Pomo d’Oro, Holland Baroque Society and De Nederlandse Bach Vereniging. Performs as soloist all over Europre, USA, Latin America, Far East, and is invited to play in halls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Bozar in Bruxelles, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Tonhalle in Zürich. Solo recordings include L. Couperin, Bach’s Partitas, Mozart’s Piano Quartets and K. 488 concerto, Haydn Sonatas. Masterclasses all over the world. Since September 2016, professor of harpsichord and thorough bass at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

www.francescocorti.com

Zefira Valova was born in Sofia. In 2006 she graduated at the National Music Academy in Sofia, having studied with Prof. Yosif Radionov and Stoyka Milanova and specialized baroque violin with Anton Steck and Lucy van Dael. From 2003 until 2008 she was concertmaster of the Classic FM Radio Orchestra and Sofia Festival Orchestra and appeared as a soloist with various Bulgarian orchestras and ensembles. In 2008 she became a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra and was concertmaster under the direction of Petra Mullejans, Ton Koopman, Roy Goodman, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Enrico Onofri. From 2011 until 2015 she was concertmaster and soloist of orchestra Les Ambassadeurs, directed by Alexis Kossenko. Since 2015 she is the concertmaster of il Pomo d’Oro, under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev. Zefira Valova is among the founder of the Sofia Baroque Arts Festival – the only annual event dedicated to early music and historically informed performance in Bulgaria. During the concert season 2017 – 2018 she appears as concertmaster of il Pomo d’Oro with Joyce di Donato – mezzo soprano, as leader of the performances with Franco Fagioli – counter tenor, Edgar Moreau – violoncello.

Since 2016 she is regularly conducting the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra within their early music series. She has collaborated also with the Helsinki Baroque Orchetsra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, La Chambre Philharmonique, Cordevento, B’rock and others. She has recorded for Brilliant Classics, Channel Classics, Alpha, Deutsche Grammophon, Bulgarian National Television and Radio. She plays a violin by L. and T. Carcassi from 1760, provided by Jumpstart JR.

Italian conductor and violinist Federico Guglielmo was born in Padua in 1968. He studied violin with his father and later graduated at the Benedetto Marcello Music Conservatory in Venice. He attended numerous master classes in Violin, Chamber Music and Orchestral Conducting with such names as: Salvatore Accardo; Vladimir Spivakov; Isaac Stern; Trio Beaux Arts; Trio di Trieste; Amadeus Quartet; Quartetto Italiano; La Salle Quartet; and Gianluigi Gelmetti. He won many awards in several international competitions, including the 1st prize at the 1991 Vittorio Gui International Competition in Florence. Encouraged by Christopher Hogwood, he has devoted himself to the study of historically informed practice, using Baroque and Classical violins. He has conducted and performed with various string orchestras, such as: the Academy of Ancient Music in London; the Handel; Haydn Society in Boston; the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra; the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. In 1994, he founded L’Arte dell’Arco, an ensemble that specializes in Venetian music of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Federico Guglielmo has also conducted Baroque opera such as Paisiello’s La Daunia Felice , D. Scarlatti’s La Dirindina; Vivaldi’s first opera, Ottone in Villa, at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, and Piccinni’s Il finto turco, also in Vicenza.

In 2017, he worked with period instrument ensemble il Pomo d’Oro for the first time, leading a concert tour with violinst Alina Ibragimova. He has performed in many of the world’s most important halls and theaters: Musikverein in Vienna; Wigmore Hall London; Società del Quartetto in Milan; Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome; Auditorio Nacional in Madrid; Herkulessaal in Munich; Carnegie Hall in New York; Suntory Hall, Opera City and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo; Izumi and Symphony Hall in Osaka; and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. He realized numeros recordings, many of which received awards and great critical acclaim. Federico Guglielmo is praised for his “sparkling virtuosity”, his “brilliant and entertaining interpretations” and his extraordinary versatility.

Riccardo Coelati Rama graduated in 2001 in Double Bass and 2009 in Viola da gamba from the Conservatorio di Musica FE Dall’Abaco in Verona. In 2004 he was a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra. His performing experience includes projects with orchestras and ensembles such as the il Pomo d’Oro, Europa Galante, Complesso Barocco, I Barocchisti, Ensemble Aurora, Il Suonar Parlante,Gambe di Legno Consort, Accademia Strumentale Italiana, Harmony of Nations, Ensemble Zefiro, Cordia. He regularly participates in numerous radiobroadcasts and recording projects for label such as Virgin, Sony, Brilliant, Glossa, Divox.

Valentina Mattiussi is an Italian violinist, particulary appreciated for her “great capacity for musical imagination”. She is passioned about opera, extremely fascinated by the world of historical performance practice and strongly convinced of the vital role that music and all other forms of art (from poetry to figurative art) can play in our society.

Since 2020 she has been collaborating assiduously with various early music ensembles, such as the il Pomo d’Oro, I Barocchisti, Europa Galante, Armonia Atenea, and many others, with whom she has the opportunity to perform in the main theaters of the world (Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilarmonie in Hamburg, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Palau de la Musica Catalanya in Barcelona and many others) and to participate in various critically awarded recordings, sharing the stage with artists such as Maxim Emelyanychev, Francesco Corti, Joyce Didonato, Philippe Jaroussky, Lisette Oropesa, Franco Fagioli, Zefira Valova, Fabio Biondi, to name a few.

She is regularly invited to various Festivals in different groups (from solo violin to small chamber groups), among others the Caronantica Festival (2023), Capriasca Festival (2023), Alte Musik Innsbruck Festival (2022), the Festival at the Philharmonic Society of Trento (2018, 2019, 2020), the “Trame Sonore” Festival in Mantua (2019, 2018, 2017), Ljubljana Festival (LIO 2017), the Diabelli Sommer Festival Mattsee (2017).

Since 2023 she is invited regularly to join the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala. The research and study of works by female composers, a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, occupies a prominent place in her interests. Her Master’s thesis entitled “The other half of the history of music.

Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen and her work N.1” was unanimously awarded the “Preis für exzellente Masterarbeit 2018” prize by the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.
She studied at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg in the class of Prof. Lukas Hagen, with whom she obtained her Bachelor in November 2016 and her Master in 2018 with honors.

In June 2019 she concluded the Master in Chamber Music at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome.
In July 2022 she graduated with honors in Baroque violin and historical performance at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro under the guidance of M. Enrico Onofri.

Born in 1990, Maria Bocelli is a specialised historical practice musician, performing with major European ensembles (il Pomo d’Oro, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico) in numerous festivals and concert seasons in Italy and abroad (La Scala – Milan, Fondazione Teatro “La Fenice” – Venice, Theater an der Wien – Vienna, Centro Cultural de Belem – Lisbon, Palau de la musica catalana – Barcelona, De Singel – Antwerpen, Salzburger Festspiele, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, etc.).

In 2018 he founded the art collective Policromie, a group of young artists committed to the creation of interdisciplinary performances, meeting the interest of audiences and critics. To their credit they have the shows Lullaby – almost a pantomime for viola and cello, Il Filo Rosso – synesthesia of music and painting, Lettera da una sconosciuta.

In 2022 she published Meme e il mare, an illustrated book for children, Montedit Edition.

Always bounded with an incurable curiosity, since 2019 she has broadened the spectrum of her skills to the graphic-artistic sector, graduating in Cultural Heritage and Tourism and in Communication Design at the Italian Institute of Design.

Born into a family of musicians, Archimede De Martini embarked on his musical journey by studying violin and viola at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado under the guidance of Carlo Feige. He further refined his skills with Alessandro Moccia in Lugano, and participated in chamber music courses led by Krysia Osostowicz in London, as well as baroque music workshops by Giovanni Antonini and Ottavio Dantone. Deepening his understanding of historical performance practice, Archimede focused on early instrument repertoire with Enrico Onofri at the conservatories of Palermo and Pesaro, and with Stefano Marcocchi in Verona.

Archimede’s musical repertoire ranges from the seventeenth century to contemporary works, with a particular fondness for the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as chamber music. He has been invited to collaborate with esteemed orchestras such as Divino Sospiro, Collegio Ghislieri, il Pomo d’Oro, and Il Giardino Armonico, with whom he has embarked on international tours. Notable performances include appearances at renowned concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Wien, and La Scala in Milano.

With an extensive discography, Archimede has recorded under prestigious labels including Arcana, Warner, Erato, and Deutsche Gramophone.

Laura Andriani is originally from Italy, studied violin with Elena Guizzardi and Massimo Marin at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Torino, where she graduated at the age of 17.
 She also studied with Corrado Romano, Franco Gulli, Adelina Oprean (obtaining the Solisten-Diplom at the Musik-Akademie in Basel, Switzerland) and Salvatore Accardo. She mastered in Chamber Music in England (Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and Royal Academy of Music in London) and Italy (Scuola di Musica di Fiesole) with members of the Amadeus Quartet, the Smetana Quartet and the Quartetto Italiano. Alongside her musical life, in 2005 she graduated in Humanities (Letters and Philosophy) with great distinction from the Università degli Studi in Turin. Aged 20, she started being regularly invited to perform in Milano at La Scala with the Orchestra del Teatro, la Filarmonica della Scala and the Orchestra da Camera della Scala. She later obtained a position at the Teatro Regio di Torino where she played as a regular member. She has been also a regular member of the Orchestra da Camera Italiana and Sentieri Selvaggi. After performing as First Violin of the Andriani Quartet, Laura became the first violin of the Alcan Quartet and moved to Quebec in 2003. The Alcan Quartet’s activity and discography (including works by Mendelssohn, Glenn Gould, MacMillan, and the Complete Beethoven’s Quartets) were highly successful in Canada and internationally. As a chamber musician, Laura has performed in Europe (Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Holland, England and Czech Republic), Canada, the United States, China and Korea.

She won several first prizes in major Italian competitions (i.e. Mantova, Vittorio Veneto). In 1997, at the 44th International Violin Competition Premio Paganini in Genoa, she won the Special Jury Prize for her performance of the Sequenza VIII by Luciano Berio. In January 2010, the CD Chant de terre et de ciel, (Messiaen’s music; ATMA classique) won the Opus of the Year award of the Conseil québécois de la musique. Laura is one of the few current violinists to play with as much ease the repertoire from baroque to contemporary eras according to historical criteria of interpretation, with appropriate instruments and bows. In 2016, the meeting with Sigiswald Kuijken was noteworthy and she perfected with him the original technique chin-off. Since then, she regularly presents herself to the public also as a baroque violinist and she has been presenting the Complete Bach Solos. She has played with Les Idées Heureuses, Caprice, Arion, Les Boreades, Tafelmusik, Il Gardellino and il Pomo d’Oro. She has been Instructor in Baroque Violin and Ensembles at the Early Music Department at McGill University and Guest Professor at the Université de Montréal. One of her latest research highlights concerns violin postures and the historical performance of Paganini Caprices; the recording of them will be released by Passacaille in 2022.

Originally from Russia, Natalia Timofeeva is a versatile musician, specialized in the field of early music. She currently lives in France and works as a freelance artist, performing internationally as cellist and gambist with ensembles, such as Hesperion XXI, il Pomo d’Oro, Armonia Atenea and L’Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles. She has graduated from Moscow State P.I.Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied modern cello with Alexander Buzlov and chamber music at postgraduate course with prof. Tigran Alikhanov.  Having been awarded a French Government’s scholarship she went to study the viola da gamba with Christophe Coin at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where she received her master degree in 2016. Natalia has toured extensively all over Europe, Russia, South and North America and she can regularly be heard in radio broadcasts and recording projects. She teaches the viola da gamba at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Versailles.

Testo segnaposto

Parallel to his useless literary studies at the University of Naples, Giulio D’Alessio studied baroque music at the conservatories of Lyon and Geneva where he obtained the «Diplome de Soliste». He continued to study with Sigiswald Kuijken at the Conservatory of Brussels, where he received a Master degree in Baroque Violin. He joined Kuijken’s Petit Bande, for which he played for many years as well as Il Complesso Barocco, of which orchestra he quickly became manager. He plays the violin, viola, mandolin, viola da gamba, viola d’amore, and the violoncello da spalla, without, however, ever achieving technical and musical brilliance in any of them. His solo performances were greeted with critical silence, whether he played with “La Petite Bande”, the “Scarlatti Orchestra of Naples”, or the “Salzburg Soloist Chamber Orchestra”. This silence led to his decision to dedicate himself to other activities.

Thus in 2007, along with Ewald Demeyere, he founded the Bach Concentus orchestra, aimed at the rediscovery of the repertory of the Bach family. He also directed the staging of Handel’s Lotario and Rodelinda at the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao and created the scenes for the theater presentation, “Monologue for Editor”, written by Flavio Pagano for the “Festival of the Vesuvian Villas”. These varied and entirely schizophrenic activities have led him to approach the world of contemporary art and have led to a collaboration with the writer Flavio Pagano, leading to the creation of impressive, however useless, works of interactive art which soon will see the light of day. From 2011 he is the artistic director of Inspiratum (Antwerpen). In 2011 he founded with Gesine Lübben, the orchestra il Pomo d’Oro. Since 2005, he has lived in Venice, where he devotes himself to the raising of his children and to row in the Venetian style. His current dream, no doubt not to be realized, is to become a gondoliere.

During her years of academic studies, Daniela has achieved Master’s degrees in classical violin, baroque violin, singing, vocal chamber music and chamber music, from the Italian Conservatories of Verona, Mantua, Rovigo and Milan. She has obtained a degree in Musicology, with honors, cum laude, from the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna. During her career as violinist, she has performed with all the most renown Early Music groups, including the Giardino Armonico, the Europa Galante, the Accademia Bizantina, the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, the Talents Lyriques, the Concert d’Astrée, the Ensemble Matheus, the Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble, the L’arte dell’arco, the Complesso Barocco, il Pomo d’Oro, performing inside the most important auditoriums of Europe and the rest of the world.

She has held the role of Concert Master with Le Musiche Nove, accompanying Cecilia Bartoli, and with the Antaserse Ensemble, accompanying the countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, with whom she has recorded the CD Beata Vergine for the EMI-Virgin Classics label.

With her own group, the Ensemble Dorico, she has performed at several important festivals such as the Ohrid Summer Festival and the Festival Barocco Leonardo Leo.

As a singer, she has performed at other renown music festivals, including the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, the Ravenna Musica, the Verdi Festival in Milan and the EEC El Camino in Los Angels (USA).

Her passion for musicological research has led her to record several world premieres for Tactus record label, both as a singer and as a violinist, including the Giuseppe Giordani’s Offertori for voice and organ (TC 750701), the Sacred works of the Chapel Masters of the Holy House of Loreto (TC 800009), the Pellegrino Santucci’s Sacred Works (TC 921980), the Francesco Balilla Pratella’s Chamber Works (TC 881602), the Giuseppe Millico’s Duet for violin and harp (TC 731303), the Giuseppe Verdi’s  Songs (TC 812205) played on the ‘Historic’ piano,  the Fernando Jamandreu Obradors’s Complete Art Songs (for DA VINCI Publishing).

As musicologist, in 2023 she participated in the International Conference ARS SACRA 2023, held at the Alessandria’s Conservatory of Music, with the theme Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, a man of faith and in the XXVII Colloquio di musicologia del «Saggiatore Musicale» held at the University of Bologna with the theme, Ferni sisters: the voice of the violin.

She has been a resident violin teacher at the Italian Conservatories of Verona, Sassari and Fermo.

Ludovico Takeshi Minasu was born in Rome in 1984. He began his musical education at Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Rome with Mario Centurione, Francesco Strano and with Luigi Piovano. Since the beginning of his studies, he has developed a strong interest in the early music, and has been taught this speciality by Gaetano Nasillo at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica of Milan and by Bruno Cocset at the ESMUC (Barcelona). In 2004 he was awarded at the Van Wassenaer Concours (Den Haag). As principal cello he has performed with such renowned ensembles as “Il Complesso Barocco” (Alan Curtis), “il Pomo d’Oro” (Maxim Emelyanichev), “Concerto Italiano” (Rinaldo Alessandrini), “Cappella Gabetta” (Andres Gabetta), “Ensemble Kapsberger” (Rolf Lislevand), “Ensemble Claudiana” (Luca Pianca), “Mare Nostrum” (Andrea de Carlo). He collaborated and played under the conduction of musicians like Enrico Onofri, Luca Pianca, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Rolf Lislevand, Zefira Valova. In 2015 he founded with Boris Begelman and Alexandra Koreneva “Arsenale Sonoro” and their first recording (Telemann sonatas recorded for Sony Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) received enthusiastic answers from the international press.

Jesús Merino is one of the most outstanding young Spanish violinists of his generation. Fascinated by the historical performance practice he works regularly as concertmaster and soloist with Concerto Köln, La Chapelle Harmonique, Ensemble Artaserse, Armonia Atenea and Le Concert Lorrain, and performs with some of the most important baroque ensembles such as Il Pomo d’Oro, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Collegium Vocale Gent, L’Arpeggiata, Continuum, Dresdner Festspielorchester, among others.

As a modern violinist he has performed as concertmaster of the Geneva Camerata, and has served as guest-concertmaster with the Athens Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonie Niedersachsen and Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester.

He founded the ensemble Il Fervore in 2022, and is as well a member of the Gara Quartet.

He recorded for RNE, SWR, NDR, SFR, Radio France, WDR, France Musique, and for the labels Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Outhere, CPO, just releasing two CD’s with Concerto Köln: Vivaldi as concertmaster/conductor with Martin Fröst for Sony Classical, and ‘A Quattro Violini’ for Berlin Classics, as soloist together with the concertmasters of CK: Mayumi Hirasaki, Evgeny Sviridov and Shunske Sato.

Born in Cuenca in 1991, he began taking lessons with Ruth Olmedilla, before studying his Bachelor in modern violin with Lina Tur at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón. Then he moved to Berlin, where he studied with Prof. Eberhard Feltz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. He continued with Sebastian Hamann at the Hochschule für Musik Luzern, as well  as an HIP Master with Petra Müllejans at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt. He was Baroque Violin and Historical Performance Professor at the Escuela Superior Musical Arts Madrid (2020-22).

He plays a violin by Giacomo Zanoli (Verona, 1755) generously loaned by Jonathan Sparey, as well as a Matthias Albani (Bolzano, 1702) and an Antonio Vinaccia (Napoli, 1780).

Jonathan Orlando Álvarez, born in Los Teques, Venezuela. Began his practices in “El Sistema”, under the tutelage of Prof. Félix Petit at the Conservatoire of Music Simón Bolívar and the Double Bass School of Venezuela, moreover, received master classes from Klaus Stoll, Janne Saksalas, Nabil Shehata or Edicson Ruiz from the Berliner Philharmoniker, among others. Was a member and guest player of the highest level symphonic orchestras of his country from an early age, playing under the conducting of José Antonio Abreu, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle or Gustavo Dudamel, among others, and touring from Norway to China concert halls. He won positions as permanent double bass at the Caracas Municipal Symphonic Orchestra (2012) and principal bass at the Simón Bolívar Baroque Orchestra (2014) getting involved in the early music with original instruments, receiving also master classes from Michael Form, and was awarded a scholarship to the Academy of Ancient Music, Brunico (2016), receiving master classes and sharing stage with Riccardo Coelati, Roberta Invernizzi or Midori Seiler. Nowadays based in Madrid, he won a first place to the Navarra Symphony Orchestra (2017) and more recently as a freelance player, works with il Pomo d’Oro Orchestra and symphonic ensembles all-over Spain, among others, going through the ancient to modern repertoire.

He’s co-founder, as well, of emerging groups as the Cantabrian Symphony Orchestra (2018) and the Humboldt Orchestra (2019) along Michael Form, and has shared stage with artists such as Péter Eötvös, Paquito d’Rivera, Lucero Tena, Anna Fedorova or Joyce DiDonato, Philippe Jaroussky, Lisette Oropesa or Jakub Józef Orliński. In addition, he collaborates with nonprofit organizations such as “El Sistema” inspired programs, youth symphonic orchestras or the Spanish Red Cross, and was given during his activities in Venezuela the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador recognition.