Cappella Neapolitana english version

“CAPPELLA NEAPOLITANA ANTONIO FLORIO”: A NEW NAME FOR THE ENSEMBLE THAT HAS MADE THE HISTORY OF BAROQUE NEAPOLITAN MUSIC AFTER ALMOST THIRTY YEARS, NEW PROJECTS FILLED WITH THE SAME RIGOROUS AND MOTIVATED APPROACH Originally called Cappella della Pietà dei Turchini, the ensemble was founded by Antonio Florio in 1987 after a ten-year period of studies and experimentations, and it has since become internationally appreciated thanks to rare concert programs, opera productions, and over 40 recordings, and it represents the symbol of the rediscovery of Neapolitan music written between the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Today – almost thirty years after its creation – that group of “bold pioneers” takes on the name of “Cappella Neapolitana Antonio Florio”, with the same musicians and collaborators that have contributed to develop this musical project since the very beginning. “Cappella Neapolitana Antonio Florio” is a registered trademark and it will be used for every forthcoming concert. A long, highly acclaimed and prestigious musical experience that began its journey at the precious Chiesa delle Pietà dei Turchini in Naples (also known as “Incoronatella”) to reach high international visibility with the ambition to present original Neapolitan repertoires – rediscovered and researched by Antonio Florio, aided since the beginning by musicologist Dinko Fabris – thus bringing back to life works of the highest musical and poetic quality by composers whose names have in some cases been unfairly neglected by historians; names such as those of Sabino, Salvatore, Netti, Caresana, Veneziano, Leo, Jommelli, Vinci, Latilla, Paisiello, Provenzale. A culturally exciting and educationally significant project that has contributed to the rediscovery of precious musical gems, today fully integrated within the repertoire of other important artists, and to the training of an entire new generation of musicians – not only Neapolitan musicians – who dedicate themselves to “ancient music”. Innumerable artistic and scientific collaborations have marked the journey since the beginning and have materialized into historical concert performances and significant recordings for labels such as Symphonia, and particularly Opus111, and the successful series “Les Trésors de Naples”. It’s impossible to list all the performances held in the most prestigious halls worldwide: United States, Argentina, Columbia, Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, and naturally Europe, including Claudio Abbado’s invitation to Berlin’s Philharmonie. One of many achievements of this exciting artistic journey was the creation in 1997 of a Centre for Ancient Music in Naples. Since 2010, and due to differing artistic visions, the original musical and scientific leaders, from Florio and Fabris themselves, started new and different journeys from the Centro Musica Antica now transformed into a Fondazione Pietà dei Turchini, defending their history and their internationally renowned interpretative approach. Today, counting on a collaboration with a very refined Spanish recording label, Glossa, the musicians who identify with programmatic and poetic guidelines of the original Turchini – independently from the organization bearing that name – have taken the name of “Cappella Neapolitana Antonio Florio” and, driven by the same rigorous approach and the same motivation, continue their work of research, restoration and interpretation of “Naples’ musical treasures”. Through its new name, the Cappella Neapolitana Antonio Florio intends to keep pursuing its commitment on the international musical panorama. Its first fruits will be the April release of Gaetano Veneziano: Passio, a new CD with by the label Glossa, starring the Ghisleri Choir and soloists Raffaele Pe, Luca Cervoni, Marco Bussi. The first concert performance of the Cappella Neapolitana Antonio Florio is also dedicated to Gaetano Veneziano, a musician whose three-hundredth anniversary falls in 2016. His Passione Secondo Giovanni (1685) will be performed in Naples on March 24 at the Auditorium Castel Sant’Elmo, at 9 pm, as part of the Concert Season of the Associazione Alessandro Scarlatti. The ensemble will then be performing in Florence (14 June) and in numerous summer festivals, the details of which will soon be released.