TRIO Tenace - D'Aprile - Rizzo (mezzosoprano, corno, pianoforte)

One voice, one piano and one horn: this is a rare chamber ensemble that on Saturday, November 21, at 8:00 p.m., will take the stage at the Torre Teatro Mu.Ra. in Noci for the latest event in the 22nd “Saverio Mercadante” Concert Series, organized by the Aulos Music and Cultural Association of Noci in collaboration with the Municipality of Noci.

The evening’s performers will be mezzo-soprano Maria Arcangela Tenace, horn player Giovanni D’Aprile and pianist Rosaria Dina Rizzo, brought together in the Rossomandi Ensemble.

This is an absolute first in the history of the series: for the first time in twenty-two editions, the horn is included in the concert program—not as an orchestral instrument, but as a solo voice alongside singing and piano. This unusual combination inspired the German Romantic nineteenth century to produce music of great fascination: the horn’s warm, distant sound, associated with images of the forest, the hunt and nostalgia, engages in dialogue with the human voice like a second singer, evoking landscapes, memories and alpine calls.

## PROGRAM

Franz Paul Lachner (1803–1890)
Lieder, Op. 27
New Spring, Wanderer’s Prayer, Her Dream, Questions

Saverio Mercadante (1795–1870)
Lo zzucchero d’ammore (for voice and piano)

Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda (1801–1866)
Heimweh, WoO IX/19

Franz von Suppè (1819–1895)
Gefangen

Florestano Rossomandi (1857–1933)
Chi non spera muore (for voice and piano)

Francesco Capponi (1840–1900)
Marcellina (for voice and piano)

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Alphorn, Op. 15 No. 3

Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819–1885)
Hornist und Musketier, Op. 86

## BIOGRAPHIES

Maria Arcangela Tenace, mezzo-soprano, earned the “Second-Level Academic Diploma” in Opera Singing and Musical Theatre at the “U. Giordano” State Conservatory of Music, under the guidance of Maestro Maria Paola De Luca. She continues to deepen her study of the repertoire by attending the open course at the “U. Giordano” Conservatory of Music in Foggia.

She made her debut as a solo contralto in W. A. Mozart’s Requiem with the “Città di Roma” Symphony Orchestra; in M. Haydn’s Requiem; in A. Vivaldi’s Gloria with the “Musicalia” Chamber Orchestra and the ICO 131 of Potenza; and in G. Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. She is one of the seven foreign women in E. Nardella’s previously unpublished operetta L’isola azzurra, performed by the Orchestra of the “U. Giordano” Conservatory of Foggia under the direction of Maestro A. Palmacci.

She played Anna in L. Maletta’s previously unpublished short opera Le voci del Pollino, with the Orchestra 131 of Basilicata under the direction of Maestro M. Esposito. As part of the “Corto Circuito Musica Festival,” she performed as a mezzo-soprano in male costume, alongside Ettore Bassi and accompanied by Maestro Giovanna D’Amato and Maestro Giovanna Tricarico, in the presentation of Le memorie di Giacomo Casanova.

As part of the 28th edition of the “Musica nelle Corti di Capitanata” festival, she performed as solo mezzo-soprano in the concert “Da Ravel... a Ravel.” She has appeared on the stages of numerous theatres, including the “Politeama” Theatre in Lecce, the “Marruccino” Theatre in Chieti, the “Ventidio Basso” Theatre in Ascoli Piceno, the “Dell’Aquila” Theatre in Fermo, the “Della Fortuna” Theatre in Fano, the “U. Giordano” Theatre in Foggia, the “Marruccino” Theatre in Chieti, and the “F. Stabile” Theatre in Potenza.

Giovanni D’Aprile graduated with distinction from the “Nino Rota” State Conservatory of Music in Monopoli under the guidance of Maestro Pietro Palmisano. He furthered his horn studies with internationally renowned teachers, including Salvatore Accardi, Luciano Giuliani and Froydis Ree Wekre, and at the Chigiana Musical Academy in Siena with Radovan Vlatkovic.

Former principal horn of the Orchestra of the Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari, since 1986 he has undertaken numerous tours in Russia, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and England, performing both in chamber ensembles and orchestras. He has collaborated with important institutions such as the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Orchestra of La Scala in Milan and the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the International Orchestra of Italy. He has worked under major conductors including Sawallisch, Muti, Chung, Gergiev, Sinopoli, Prêtre, Gatti, Maazel, Pappano, Nagano, Tate, Mannino, Thielemann, Ferro, Temirkanov and Harding.

A member of the wind ensemble “I Cameristi di Roma”—comprising principal players from the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome—he has performed concerts in Italy and abroad. He has recorded for several radio and television broadcasters and made recordings for Dynamic, Tactus, Rainbow, DAD, Musikstrasse and Stradivarius.

He recently recorded W. A. Mozart’s Quintet K. 452 and Beethoven’s Op. 16 for winds and piano for Wide Classic. For Rainbow, he recorded Franco Margola’s Tre Epigrammi Greci for voice, horn and piano; for Musikstrasse, Great Movie Classic with the Cameristi di Roma; and for Digital Classic, a recording for the Dante Alighieri Society of Munich with the Cameristi di Roma. For Stradivarius, he recorded Gianfranco Malipiero’s 5 strumenti a perdifiato. For the Artecno Project, he recorded Giuseppe Saverio Mercadante’s Concertone for flute, clarinet, horn and orchestra.

For DAD, he recorded Raffaele Gervasio’s Il Filo Rosso, Op. 106, for wind quintet, and Quintetto Secondo, Op. 115, for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano.

With the “Giovanni Punto” Horn Quartet, with which he regularly performs, he recently performed Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra, Op. 86, with the ICO of Bari. He is a contract horn teacher at the “Gaetano Braga” State Conservatory of Music in Teramo and holds the horn professorship at the “Alfredo Casella” State Conservatory of Music in L’Aquila.

Rosaria Dina Rizzo, after graduating in piano, attended master classes with J. Achucarro, C. Rosen and B. Canino, as well as an advanced course with S. Perticaroli at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg and an advanced course at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. She earned diplomas from the Chamber Music School at the “S. Cecilia” Conservatory in Rome and from the Higher School of Chamber Music of the Trio di Trieste.

She has pursued an intense concert career in Italy and at international festivals in Germany, Egypt, Croatia, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Russia, France, the United States, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria, as well as on tours in Romania and Slovakia. She has performed for Bucharest Radio and Television and for Slovenian Radio and Television in Ljubljana. She has placed among the top competitors in various national and international competitions and, as part of a trio, won the gold medal—the first prize—at the 30th Grand Concours International in Paris in 1999.

She has performed W. A. Mozart’s concertos for two and three pianos and orchestra, and has played with the Symphony Orchestra of Piedmont, the Abruzzo Youth Orchestra, the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, the State Philharmonic Orchestras of Vidin and Shumen in Bulgaria, the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Râmnicu Vâlcea in Romania, the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra in Bucharest, the Galesburg Symphony Orchestra, Mexico’s “Silvestre Revueltas” Symphony Orchestra and the Pitești Philharmonic Orchestra.

She has performed with violinist Cristiano Rossi, cellist A. Zagorinsky—winner of first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow—and pianist Bruno Canino.

She graduated in Education with highest honors, and also received the highest honors both for her Second-Level Academic Diploma in Piano and for her diploma in Chamber Music. She is a scholar of Florestano Rossomandi and has recorded a CD featuring the first-ever performances of several of his compositions. She has published three books and, most recently, the piece for voice and piano Chi non spera muore, published by Isuku Verlag. With the same publishing house, she edited the first-ever publication of Psalm 26 by Aldo Chiappinelli, another composer born in Bovino, in the province of Foggia, like Rossomandi.

In addition, in 2023 she recorded G. Donizetti’s works for violin and piano, and in 2026 she recorded Florestano Rossomandi’s four-hand piano works—their first-ever recording—for the TACTUS record label.

She has taught advanced courses in Chamber Music and Piano at the “A. Boito” Conservatory of Music in Parma, the Higher Institute of Musical Studies in Reggio Emilia, the Higher Institute of Musical Studies in Rimini, in Assisi as part of the International Master Classes of the International Musical Academy of Perugia, in France, at the National Academy of Music of Kazakhstan in Astana, at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana, at Klaviergalerie in Vienna, at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and at the “San Rafael” Professional Conservatory in Buñol, Spain.

She has also been invited to give lecture-recitals on “The Neapolitan Piano School and Florestano Rossomandi” at the prestigious Knox College in Galesburg, USA; for the “Arena International” Music Workshop in Pula, Croatia; and at the Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

She currently teaches “Vocal Chamber Music” at the Conservatory of Music in Teramo. She has been Artistic Director of the International “Florestano Rossomandi” Competition since its first edition.
Web: mercadantecompetition.com