A Venezia | Summer festival of old music

ABOUT THE CONCERT

Venice… It would be hard to find a place that has bequeathed a greater legacy to the history of music than this fascinating, fabled city on the lagoon. From time immemorial, Venice has attracted the attention of artists, craftsmen and merchants. And in the 17th century, the city also became one of the most important centres of music printing. With publishers passing on their expertise from generation to generation, we can literally speak of dynasties of famous Venetian music printers. Without their craftsmanship and commercial flair, the works that we admire today would have fallen into oblivion.

The concert’s dramaturgy will focus on editions printed by the Gardano/Magni family, one of the largest and most important music publishers not only in Venice, but also throughout Europe. Virtuosic Early Baroque sonatas, fantasias, sinfonias, canzonas or ciacconas will be brought to the concert stage by the ensemble Concerto Scirocco. The first ever performance of this renowned ensemble will be at the Troja Château – in the attractive setting of an Italian summer villa on the bank of the Vltava River.

Performers

Concerto Scirocco

Giulia Genini | dulcians, recorders, artistic director
Esther Crazzolara | Baroque violin
Luca Bandini | violon
Giovanni Bellini | theorbo
Michele Vannelli | harpsichord

Programme

Maurizio Cazzati (1616–1678)
Sonata a due La Tanara
Ballo delle Ombre
Ciaccona

Biagio Marini (1594–1663)
Sonata undecima a doi La Caotorta
La Zorzi, sinfonia grave a 3
Sonata nona per doi fagotti
Il Zontino, balletto a 3

Dario Castello (1602–1631)
Sonata seconda soprano solo
Sonata settima a 2

Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde (ca 1595–1638)
Fantasia a basso solo
Canzona seconda soprano solo
Vestiva i Colli passeggiato a basso solo

Giovanni Legrenzi (1626–1690)
La Donata a due
La Spilinberga a due violini
Sonata a 3 La Pezzoli
Sonata a 3 La Cornara

Massimiliano Neri (ca 1621–1670)
Canzone seconda a 4

Concerto Scirocco

The ensemble Concerto Scirocco, founded in 2009, is dedicated to historically informed performance. This eclectic ensemble using period instruments is united by a common enthusiasm for the music of the Renaissance, and of the early to late Baroque era, and seeks to combine personal creativity with an awareness of historical performance practices garnered through experience of the world of early music.
 
Concerto Scirocco performs regularly in international concert halls and festivals such as: Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Berliner Philharmonie, Festival Resonanzen in Wien, Forum Agostino Steffani in Hannover, Sastamala Gregoriana in Finland, Festival Paesaggi Musicali Toscani, Festival Internacional de Musica de Gaia, Festival Misteria Paschalia Krakow, Brunnenthaler Konzertsommer, Musical Evenings at St Donatus in Zadar, Varaždin Baroque Evenings, MidiMusique in Basel, LAC (Lugano Arte Cultura) Concert Hall, L’ADMA in Fribourg, Fabulous Fringe in Utrecht, Festival Alte Musik Live in Berlin, Freunde Alter Musik Basel, La Tribune des Jeunes Musiciens in Geneva and many others.
 
Concerto Scirocco has been broadcasted live for RSR Espace 2, Radio Svizzera Italiana Rete Due and concertzender.nl. The ensemble’s recordings, all released by Arcana / Outhere Music, were rated 5 Diapasons and the Diapason Découverte by Diapason Magazine, 5 stars from Musica Magazine, the “Choc du mois” by Classica Magazine, “Clef d’Or” Res Musica, and were nominated for the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”.
 
In 2021, Concerto Scirocco was one of the four winners of the Kulturplatz competition by SRF – Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, selected from among more than sixty cultural projects from Switzerland. A detailed reportage about the ensemble was filmed at the prestigious Stadtcasino Basel.

The concert is held with the kind support of the Italian Culture Institute in Prague and in collaboration with the Prague City Gallery.