Riccardo Minasi Performs Neapolitan Discoveries With The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Italian violinist and conductor Riccardo Minasi returns to perform with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with a programme of rare music that has largely been unheard for centuries, and certainly never before played in Australia.
Riccardo is one of the world’s most captivating baroque violin virtuosos and conductors. Born in Rome in 1978, he has performed both as soloist as well as concertmaster with Le Concert des Nations of Jordi Savall, Il Giardino Armonico, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di S.Cecilia and Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. He has also worked with the Concerto Vocale of René Jacobs, Luca Pianca, Viktoria Mullova, Christophe Coin and Reinhard Goebel.
An academic and award winning recording artist, Riccardo is also somewhat of a music sleuth and curator for some of the world’s leading artists, championing long neglected or forgotten music of Naples. His special passion for locating and researching the music of this enormously influential baroque city and a thriving centre of music and culture, has aroused international interest.
He recently collaborated with mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli on Bellini’s famous opera Norma, restoring its sound and spirit in a landmark modern edition using original opera sources.
His recording Stella di Napoli which he conceived and conducted with soprano Joyce DiDonato and the chorus and orchestra of the Lyon Opera was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Classical Vocal Album, received a Diapason D’or of the Year and the BBC Music Magazine Award 2015.
More recently, he conducted an all-star cast in a highly acclaimed premiere recording of Catone in Utica, a spectacular opera by Leonardo Vinci, a Neapolitan baroque master (not to be confused with the painter Leonardo da Vinci!) rapidly gaining stature in the 21st century. A tour followed with sell-out performances in Wiesbaden, Bergen, Bucharest, Versailles and Vienna.
Riccardo has put together a special Australian tour programme of vital and extraordinarily beautiful music by six Neapolitan composers, all relatively recent discoveries and exceptional works.
The programme: Francesco De Majo – Sinfonia in D major/ Angelo Ragazzi – Violin Concerto in G minor /Domenico Sarro – Sinfonia from Demofoonte/ Angelo Ragazzi – Sonata Op. 1, No 4 in F minor, Imitatio in Salve Regina/ Leonardo Leo – Concerto for 4 violins in D major/ Nicola Fiorenza – Violin Concerto in C major / Niccolò Jammelli – Sinfonia from Le Betullia liberata
The performers: Riccardo Minasi (Italy), conductor, director, baroque violin soloist/ Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Tickets: visit brandenburg.com.au or call 1300 782 856 or visit cityrecitalhall.com or call 02 8256 2222
