In the Baroque era, Naples was highly regarded for its vibrant musical life, and its four conservatories fostered every kind of instrumental and vocal music, from sacred to secular, only to diminish in significance in the last decades of the 18th century. This album by Josetxu Obregón and his period ensemble La Ritirata explores concertos for various instruments by composers involved with the Neapolitan conservatory system, such as Nicola Porpora, Francesco Mancini, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Nicola Fiorenza, though ...
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In the Baroque era, Naples was highly regarded for its vibrant musical life, and its four conservatories fostered every kind of instrumental and vocal music, from sacred to secular, only to diminish in significance in the last decades of the 18th century. This album by Josetxu Obregón and his period ensemble La Ritirata explores concertos for various instruments by composers involved with the Neapolitan conservatory system, such as Nicola Porpora, Francesco Mancini, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Nicola Fiorenza, though Alessandro Scarlatti's presence here can be explained by his position with the royal court, the inclusion of seven of his recorder concertos in a 1725 manuscript collection, and the long-held but mistaken assumption that he was the founder of the Neapolitan school. La Ritirata's instrumentation consists of recorder, three violins, viola, two cellos, violone, theorbo, and two harpsichords, which produce a sound that is both rich in textures yet intimate in the solo parts. Leader...
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