Projects

"Mysterium Romae" is a journey through the experimental music of Roman Baroque, born among the alleys and palaces of the Eternal City. The proposed authors are the most important virtuosos and composers for lute and five-course guitar born or active in Baroque Rome. Among them is the mysterious Ferdinando Valdambrini Romano, for whom unpublished pieces with a virtuosic, dissonant, and experimental style are presented. After years of musicological research, I am completing the recording of a CD dedicated to Valdambrini's music.
This unique musical program will immerse the listener in a Rome that no longer exists, where meditation and amazement alternate through the strings of the lute and Baroque guitar.

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Music by Lorenzo Tracetti, Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger, Ferdinando Valdambrini, Lelio Colista, Giovanni Paolo Foscarini, Giovanni Zamboni.

Emotion through rationality: this is one of the keys to the arts in the Renaissance period. Michelangelo is an example of this concept. Due to his incredible artistic production, Michelangelo was called 'Divino' by his contemporaries. In the same period, only one other artist shared this nickname with him: Francesco Da Milano, one of the most important composers for the Renaissance lute.

The rationality of Michelangelo’s architecture, paintings, and sculptures is reflected in the geometry of the counterpoint of Francesco. His music is the center of a musical program that explores the jewels of the Renaissance lute in Italy: a selection of the most significant musical pieces of the XVI century. Dances, Fantasie, Ricercari, but also instrumental versions of the most famous songs and madrigals of the time. An immersive itinerary dedicated to the repertoire of the Renaissance lute, that investigates the multiple shades of the instrument: introspection, meditation, but also rhythm and vitality. A music through which we can get closer to the aesthetics of Michelangelo and the Italian Renaissance.

Music by: Francesco Da Milano, Joan Ambrosio Dalza, Vincenzo Capirola, Giovanni Maria da Crema, Marco dall’Aquila, Lorenzo Tracetti, Giovanni Battista Dalla Gostena, Simone Molinaro, Giacomo Gorzanis.

I'm finishing the transcription and critical edition of the Sonatas for baroque lute and traversiere by Sylvius Leopold Weiss. This rapresents a possibility to expand the repertoire for musicians, discovering exquisite pieces written by one of the most influent composers for baroque lute. Soon transcriptions for classic guitar and transverse flute!

The echoes of Baroque Europe come to life through the music for guitar and lute. Mystery, sensuality, and energy—these, along with many other atmospheres, will immerse the listener in a journey that unveils the diverse colors of guitar music in Italy, Spain, and Belgium. The itinerary will culminate in the musical geometries of Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on the Baroque lute. This recital provides the listener with an experience that offers the opportunity to rediscover the roots of European music, whose diverse traditions are unexpectedly linked to each other by common vibrations.

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Music by Ferdinando Valdambrini, Lelio Colista, Gaspar Sanz, Antonio de Santa Cruz, François Le Cocq, Johann Sebastian Bach.

Ferdinando Valdambrini Romano is an interesting figure of the middle ages of the XVI in Rome. His style on the baroque guitar is original and at the same time it's inspired (in some cases, copied!) by the music of Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, the Nobile Alemano, virtuoso on theorbo and lute. I'm recording and editing a selection of the most significant musical pieces of Valdambrini, shedding a light on a composer almost unknown, but original and intriguing.

Simone Molinaro is a lutenist well known for his Intavolature di liuto (1599), but he wasn't just a lute player. He worked in Genova both as Maestro di Cappella in S. Lorenzo Cathedral and Maestro di Cappella at Palazzo Ducale. He composed many books of vocal music, both sacred and profane. He wrote two books of madrigals for five voices (1599, 1615), and it's interesting the change of composition style in almost 15 years: the second book infact is inspired by the original style of Gesualdo. I dedicated my Musicology Graduation to Simone Molinaro's books, transcribing the musical pieces in modern notation. I'm working on a critical edition and the complete recording of the madrigals.