Series 5
Riccardo Minasi

The Neapolitans, Italian Baroque Violin

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Riccardo Minasi thrilled Brandenburg audiences in 2011, and in 2015 he returns again as Guest Director and soloist. Possessing a formidable technique and a fearless, yet lyrical style, Minasi works all over the world as conductor, soloist, academic, teacher and leader of his own ensemble, Il Pomo d’Oro.

Minasi plays everything from Bach to Bel Canto. But when offered the chance to put together a program with personal meaning, he chose seven recently discovered gems from the city of Naples.

Naples in the baroque period was an important centre of music and culture, and this is reflected in the depth and diversity of this program. The names of these composers may be unfamiliar, but their work remains vital and influential. Francesco de Majo composed over 20 operas and a large number of sacred works. Like Minasi, Angelo Ragazzi was a violinist as well as a prolific composer of instrumental music. And Niccolò Jomelli wrote over 60 operas and oratorios, including La Betulia liberata, from which this splendid sinfonia is drawn.

Paul Dyer and the Orchestra take as much pleasure in reinvigorating the classics of the baroque repertoire as they do in presenting unknown works, and over the years audiences have come to relish following them on this exciting journey into the unknown.