PROJECT 1
THE TRANSVERSE FLUTE IN THE 17th CENTURY
The library of the Holy Convent was custodian for many years, of a collection of wind instruments made up of a dulcian, four cornetts, a bass recorder and a transverse flute. This last instrument, anonymous like all the others, may be considered the element of greatest prestige due to its uniqueness, it is, in fact, one of the very few transverse flutes known at the moment built in 17th century Europe. Research on the origin of this flute, together with the entire collection, which I carried out in the convent archives, was fascinating and full of interesting surprises; the data was gathered and published in the Recercare magazine, (XXIV /1-2,2012). The instruments, restored by Giovanni Tardino (BauArt Basel), are on exhibit since June 22, 2013 in the Treasure Museum of the Basilica of St. Francis which also has an interesting catalogue.
Moreover, in December 2012 the Brilliant Recording Company produced a CD with music written by G.B. Buonamente (Capellmeister of Assisi in the mid-17th century) performed on copies of the instrument of the collection. 17th century repertoire is not usually played on a transverse flute due to the scarcity of known instruments, but why not experiment given the beauty and ductility of the sound of the Assisi flute?
PROJECT 2
C.P.E. BACH (1714 -1788)
QUARTETS FOR TRIO
The 300-year anniversary of the birth of C.P.E. Bach falls in 2014. This is why we decided to record the Three Quartets for transverse flute, viola and harpsichord obbligato by this composer who has always been one of our most loved. Composed in 1788, the year of his death, they represent a sort of musical testament. Why are they called Quartets although played by three performers? This is because the title refers to the obbligato parts, meaning, the number of parts which were wholly written by the composer; of these, the harpsichordist plays two, one with each hand, making a total of four. The CD will come out as part of the C.P.E. Bach Edition published by Brilliant at the end of 2013 and as a single record in the spring of 2014.
PROJECT 3
HELIANTHUS
The ensemble, founded by Laura Pontecorvo in 2012, is made up of a group of musicians who, beyond the pleasure of playing together, have shared a didactic project since 2006. The ensemble is composed of various formations and all the proposals favor, as a common denominator, a repertoire in which the instruments have equal roles, thus experimenting a fertile dialogue among them. Both the program for flute and harpsichord duo and the program for flute and lute are centered around works from the 18th century in which the Baroque transverse flute is used, whereas the one in trio with violin and theorbo is all 17th century, therefore the flute in this case is the Assisi transverse flute.
PROJECT 4
TOGETHER WITH RINALDO ALESSANDRINI
After many concert and recording projects shared within the ensemble Concerto Italiano conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini, the need arose to propose a duo program centered entirely on the repertoire of J.S.Bach in which the two autograph sonatas for harpsichord obbligato and transverse flute, composed in 1736, have been placed.