Conductor and renowned baroque specialist Diego Fasolis, celebrated mezzo-soprano Lucia Cirillo, and a chamber group from the Barocchisti of Lugano were the protagonists of the second event of NovAntica on Wednesday, May 21 at 8:30 PM, held at the Church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore in Milan. The NovAntica season of Baroque and 20th-century music was founded and is directed by tenor Mirko Guadagnini.
The program, conceived by Cremona-born mezzo-soprano Lucia Cirillo, featured a selection of Italian masterpieces for voice and basso continuo: from Claudio Monteverdi to Antonio Vivaldi, from architect-composer Carlo Rainaldi to the young Roman-period Georg Friedrich Händel, with a special tribute to Alessandro Scarlatti on the 300th anniversary of his death.
The voice of the Antegnati organ also filled the noble spaces of San Maurizio with works by Girolamo Frescobaldi, performed by I Barocchisti’s conductor Diego Fasolis, a long-time regular of Milan’s Early Music seasons (as well as of La Scala). Other virtuosic musicians—Cristiano Contadin on viola da gamba, Giangiacomo Pinardi on theorbo, and Mauro Valli on cello—also performed (including Vivaldi’s virtuosic Sonata RV 44), celebrating music and friendship in this magical venue.
“It is a great privilege to have had Lucia Cirillo, Diego Fasolis, and the Barocchisti of Lugano perform for the NovAntica season,” commented Artistic Director Mirko Guadagnini. “From Maestro Fasolis, all Italian baroque musicians—and not only—of the past two generations have had much to learn. The ensemble he founded over 30 years ago, I Barocchisti, is internationally recognized as one of the most authoritative groups for the baroque repertoire. And last but certainly not least, Lucia Cirillo, an outstanding mezzo-soprano, continues to enrich the repertoire with her performances of beautiful baroque works, including absolute rarities like Carlo Rainaldi’s cantata ‘Pallido, mutuo e solo’—a true gift for the most curious, attentive, and insatiable lovers of rare music.
