La Fede Trionfante

THE TRIUMPHANT FAITH
October 3 | Sanctuary of the Holy Crucifix | 9:00 PM

Oratorio in two parts by Donato Ricchezza
(Naples, Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 1683)


HOF-MUSICI, baroque ensemble from Prague:


Maria, EVA BENETT (soprano)
Faith, VERONIKA MRÁ?KOVÁ (mezzo-soprano)
Saint Casimir, TOMÁŠ LAJTKEP (tenor)
Emperor Leopold, PAVEL VALENTA (tenor)
John King of Poland, IVO MICHL (bass-baritone)
Alexander son, KAMILA ZBO?ILOVÁ (soprano)

HOF-MUSICI, baroque ensemble from Prague
ANNE SCHUMANN, first violin
AMBER MCPHERSON, second violin
KLAUS VOIGT, viola da gamba
DALIBOR PIMEK, double bass
MAREK KUBÁT, theorbo, baroque guitar
OND?EJ MACEK, director at harpsichord, positive organ

Hof-Musici is an ensemble made up of singers and instrumentalists specialized in performing music from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries.
The German-Latin name, which literally means "The court musicians," refers to the musical chapel of the aristocratic courts of the Holy Roman Empire during the Baroque period. The ensemble's international cast and repertoire are connected to this tradition, focusing on the works of the major figures of the Neapolitan, Roman, and Venetian schools performed in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries in territories under the rule of the Habsburg emperors. The ensemble pays particular attention to the music of Italian composers employed at the imperial court in Vienna (Antonio Draghi, Giovanni Battista Pederzuoli, Pietro Andrea and Marc’Antonio Ziani, Antonio Caldara, Giuseppe Porsile, and others). Hof-Musici primarily offers modern premieres of works that have remained unknown in European archives and libraries until today.
The main focus of the ensemble is on the cantata, serenade, oratorio, and especially the Italian opera of the late Sixteenth and early Seventeenth centuries. In addition to following the vocal performance practices of the time, the ensemble's singers also strive to reconstruct the acting style of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries. The orientation towards staging operas according to Baroque practices has led to regular collaboration with the Castle Theater in ?eský Krumlov (Southern Bohemia). This theater is one of the few remaining perfectly preserved Baroque theaters in its original state (built in 1680, restored in 1766). Since 2000, Hof-Musici has annually performed, for the first time in modern times, the works of great masters (often unjustly neglected today) of Italian Baroque opera (Antonio Gianettini, Antonio Draghi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, Giovanni Adolfo Hasse, Antonio Caldara, Antonio Boroni, and others). In 2008, the discovery and reconstruction of Vivaldi's Prague opera "Argippo" generated great international interest.
Hof-Musici regularly participates in concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad: Prague Spring, Musical Festivals for Saint Roch in Venice, International Handel-Festspiele in Göttingen (Germany), Baroque à Saint-Roch in Liege (Belgium), Galuppidi Venice Festival, Baroque Nights in Varaždin (Croatia), Haydn Days at Rohrau Castle (Austria), Sunday Concerts at Liechtenstein Palais in Vienna, Haydn Festival at Eszterháza Castle (Hungary), Il Suono & Il Sacro Festival in Caserta, Note senza tempo Festival in Sardinia, Handel Festival Japan in Tokyo, Budapest Spring Festival, etc. Since 2008, Hof-Musici has been the resident ensemble of the Baroque Art Festival in ?eský Krumlov. Since 2015, the ensemble has had its permanent home in the restored ancient convent of the Clarisse in ?eský Krumlov, where they not only have regular concert activities but also offer courses in Baroque performance practice. The founder and artistic director of the ensemble is harpsichordist Ond?ej Macek.
Web: amicidellamusicataranto.it/...