Programme

Leonardo Leo (1694 - 1744)

Trio sonata in D major no. 1

Adagio, Allegro tempo comodo [fuga]

Salve Regina

Antiphon in F major for soprano, violins and basso continuo

Largo, Allegro, Largo, Allegretto, Largo

Nicola Fago (1677 - 1745)

Purpura decora. Motet for solo voice and basso continuo

Aria, Recitative, Aria, Recitative, Alleluia.

Pietro Marchitelli (1635 - ca 1715)

Symphony in G minor for two violins and basso continuo

Allegro, Canzona, Adagio, Allegro

Antonio Porpora (1686 -1768)

Clari splendete, o caeli. Motet for solo voice with instruments

Aria, Recitative, Aria, Recitative, Alleluia.

Performers

Soprano: Valeria La Grotta

La Confraternita de’ Musici

Musical director, organ & harpsichord: Cosimo Prontera 

Violin: Raffaele Tiseo, Federico Valerio 

Cello: Fabio De Leonardis

Violone: Maurizio Ria 

Programme Notes

Religious devotion in southern Italy is evidenced by the large number of churches, chapels and convents already registered in the 17th century by travelers. This fervent devotion was fuelled by tragic events such as wars, famines and earthquakes, prompting people to seek help and worship the saints, so much so that sometimes the musical pages record a subdued voice.

The selected passages, in addition to their spiritual value, conceal other significant elements: the historical, as they were written for the Chapels and Confraternities of the time - institutions for devotional practices; the functional, in that they fulfilled the task of accompanying the divine service by satisfying popular piety.

At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, vocal music asserted itself along with an intense violin activity. Naples, in contact with European musical realities, became an important centre of musicians with the Real Cappella as a coveted destination. Even Arcangelo Corelli, visiting Naples in 1702, was impressed by the quality of the orchestras and the figure of a certain ‘Petrillo’ who could surpass him in skills. Corelli was referring to Pietro Marchitelli, then first violin of the Royal Chapel.

Biographies

Cosimo Prontera: Musical Director, Organ & Harpsichord

Cosimo Prontera teaches Organ and organ composition and basso continuo at the Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa Conservatory in Potenza (Italy). He has worked as a lecturer with the University of Basilicata for a Masters degree in Ancient Music and with the University of Bari (Italy). Since 2015 he teaches organ at Notre Dame University in Beirut (Lebanon).

He refined his skills under the guidance of Ton Koopman, Wolfang Zerer, Eduard Koiman, J.B. Cristensen, Guido Morini and Enrico Gatti, and Antonio Florio for the direction of the early neapolitan repertoire. He has published for Il Melograno, Cafagna ed. and Diana editrice. The most important Italian newspapers expressed words of praise for his work.

Prontera carries out his musical activity in collaboration with the most important musicians of ancient music in Europe: the violinists Jean Ch. Spinosì, Stefano Montanari, the flutists Marcello Gatti and Dan Laurin, the singers Sara Mingardo, Filippo Mineccia, Valeria La Grotta, the cellists Christophe Coin, Gaetano Nasillo and others. He is the founder and musical director of the baroque orchestra La Confraternita de' Musici, with whom he recorded for Rai 1, Rai 3, Radio Rai 3, Vatican Radio, BBC Radio, Radio Tallinn, DRS 2 Switzerland, MTV Lebanon, The Syria Insider, and for Euroradio. He has recorded for the Tactus and Bongiovanni record labels and he has performed in many Italian and foreign festivals on behalf of Foundations, Reviews, Cultural Institutes, Seasons (Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Tunisia, Netherlands, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, USA, Israel, Albania, England, Kazakhstan, Malta and others). He is a member of the English harpsichord society and directs the Barocco Festival - Leonardo Leo, a festival of ancient music that has been declared one of the best festivals in Southern Italy.

Valeria La Grotta: Soprano

After graduating in opera singing, Valeria La Grotta specialised in Renaissance and Baroque singing at the Conservatorio ‘B. Maderna’ in Cesena with Roberta Invernizzi. She studied with Lucrezia Messa and others such as Marina De Liso, Paoletta Marrocu and Sergio Foresti. She also obtained a Masters degree in Ancient Music at the Conservatorio ‘S. Pietro a Majella’ in Naples with Antonio Florio, combining her artistic activity with musicological research. She made her debut in: Bajazet (Idaspe) by Vivaldi at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli; Astrologi immaginari (Clarice) by Paisiello at the Théâtre Municipal de Moulins conducted by Martin Gester; Acis et Galatée by Lully at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Agar et Ismaele esiliati (Sara) by Alessandro Scarlatti at the Teatro delle Palme in Naples; Catone in Utica (Arbace) by Vivaldi at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara; Ercole in Tebe (Iole) by Jacopo Melani at the Teatro della Pergola; Figli di un dio ubriaco at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona conducted by Antonio Greco; Zenobia in Palmira (Aspasia) by Leonardo Leo; the first performance in modern times of Pietro Auletta's L'Orazio (Giacomina) for the 49th edition of the Festival della Valle d'Itria. She also performed at: Festival Pergolesi-Spontini di Jesi in Lo frate nnammorato by Pergolesi under the baton of Ottavio Dantone and Accademia Bizantina; Festival Anima Mea in Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi with Luca Guglielmi; La Risonanza Scholar in Tragedie Christiane with Stefano Aresi & Ensemble Stile Galante; Ravello Festival in Purcell's Dido and Æneas with Cappella Neapolitana; Monteverdi Festival  with Modo Antiquo in Monteverdi's Missa in illo tempore; Early Music Festival in Vilnius, Festival de Ribeauvillé in Charpentier's Te Deum and Ode for St. Cecilia's Day by Handel with Le Parlement de Musique; Festival de Música Antigua de Sevilla; Barocco Festival Leonardo Leo under the direction of Cosimo Prontera and La Confraternita de' Musici; Amia-Alsace in Strasbourg; Roma Festival Barocco; Antiqua Festival Bozen with Academia Montis Regalis; 46th Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano; Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo. Her discography includes: Prima d'esservi infedele -  unpublished cantatas for two violins by Alessandro Scarlatti (Arcana); La Flora by Marco da Gagliano (Glossa); Olimpia abbandonata & other Cantatas by Leonardo Vinci (Elegia Classics London).

La confraternita de’ Musici: Ensemble

Founded by Cosimo Prontera, La Confraternita de' Musici made its debut in 1997 as part of the “Leonardo Leo” Baroque Festival and was set up with the intention of re-proposing, in strict compliance with Baroque performance practice, the music of extraordinary quality of those composers who left Apulia for Naples, the capital of a kingdom that was not only political and economic but also cultural. A musical reality now recognised throughout Italy and Europe that counts among its collaborators musicians such as violinists Enrico Gatti, Stefano Montanari, Federico Guglielmo, cellists Christophe Coin and Gaetano Nasillo, flutists Marcello Gatti, Dan Laurin, singers Sara Mingardo, Gemma Bertagnolli, Paolo Lopez, Filippo Mineccia and others.

Active in Italy and abroad, he has given concerts for theatres, foundations, musical institutions, festivals and cultural institutes. Of particular note is his participation in ‘I Concerti del Quirinale’ with live radio broadcasts on Radio Rai 3 and Euroradio's international channels.

The Confraternita de' Musici has recorded the following CDs for the Tactus and Bongiovanni labels:

- Leonardo Leo: Serenate e Cantate (Tactus)

- Giuseppe Sellitto: Drusilla e Don Strabone (Tactus)

- Leonardo Leo: La Musica per stanza (Tactus)

- AaVv: Magnificat e Salve regina (Tactus)

- Giovanni Paisiello: Le finte contesse (Bongiovanni) 

- Leonardo Leo: Dalla morte alla vita di S. Maria Maddalena (Bongiovanni)

- Il Faraone sommerso (Bongiovanni)