PROGRAmMe notes

By Gioacchino da Padova​

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Burrasche e bizzarrie

The fact of programming in the tenth edition a group from the region that made up the ancient Kingdom of Naples, such as the group Orfeo Futuro, has a special relevance for the Valencians, since that kingdom was linked to those of the Crown of ‘Aragon from the thirteenth century until well into the nineteenth century. The court of Naples during all these centuries did not cease to be an irradiating centre of fashion not only in the related courts, but also in the whole of Europe. The golden age of Neapolitan theatre in music covers a very long period from the beginning of the 17th century to almost the end of the 18th century, from the dancing parties at the Palazzo Vicereale to the splendour of opera seria and comic intermezzos performed first at the Teatro dei Fiorentini and San Bartolomeo and then at the Teatro San Carlo, inaugurated in 1737 with the opera Achilles in Sciro by Domenico Sarro. 
Contemporary instrumental music is also imbued with an intense theatrical flavour, mixing cultured and popular elements, virtuosity and singable melodies, improvisation and counterpoint. The rhythm of the Neapolitan tarantella appears in different parts of an exciting programme of opera aries, concertos and rarities with stringed instruments accompanied, as usual, by the ‘foundational instruments’ described in the treatises of the time. 
All the instruments of the period, both monodic and harmonic, were already being taught in the previous century in the four Neapolitan orphanages/conservatories where the greatest composers of the Kingdom were trained and showed themselves. We will hear an exquisite selection of these instruments offered by the soprano Carmela Osato and the group Orfeo Futuro under the direction of Pierfrancesco Borrelli.

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