Luigi Marchesi, a superstar castrato - Salon music & female music professionals in Georgian London

Luther Museum Amsterdam, Nieuwe Keizersgracht 570

Presentatie met muzikale omlijsting: Stefano Aresi – muziekhistoricus en oprichter van Barokgezelschap Stile Galante, presenteert, samen met Andrea Friggi op piano, het verhaal over de meest opmerkelijke castrato zanger en componist Luigi Marchesi en werpt licht op de castrati cultuur in Europa aan het eind van de 18de eeuw. Tevens CD presentatie.

Nb: de presentatie zal in het Engels worden gegeven!

One of the most celebrated opera star of the 18th century, Luigi Marchesi (1754-1829), soprano castrato, arrived in London in 1788. Here, he unexpectedly showed himself to be an accomplished composer of salon music, publishing two collections of Ariette: musical gems of exquisite elegance. In the city, the singer came in contact with numerous female patrons, performers, and composers, animating the rich cultural world of the salon conversations and concerts. On the occasion of the release of the new CD by Ensemble Stile Galante, director Stefano Aresi illustrates a lesser-known side of Georgian London and of the History of Music, bringing light to musicians and composers such as Anne-Marie Krumpholz, Jane Hamilton, Mary Amelia Cecil and Katerina Veronika Cianchettini.

Stefano Aresi
Stefano Aresi, PhD in Musicology, director of Ensemble Stile Galante, is a specialist in history and performance practice of 18th century singing. He records for Glossa and Pan Classics and had published for ETS, Gran Tonante, Carocci, Ediciones Singulares, Pavia University Press, Larufa, Peter Lang, Sillabe, Laaber-Verlag, SIdM, and for the MGG. 

Andrea Friggi
Andrea Friggi studied with Edoardo Bellotti and Menno van Delft, Bob van Asperen, Richard Egarr, Thérèse de Goede. He has performed with several ensembles, among which Ensemble Odyssee and Stile Galante. He has recorded for Fuga Libera, Pan Classics, and Glossa. He teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam from 2010.

CD ‘A Souvenir from London’
Five years ago, Stile Galante dedicated a recording with the renowned Swedish mezzosoprano Ann Hallenberg to the celebrated soprano castrato Luigi Marchesi (1754-1829). Accompanied by soprano Francesca Cassinari, Stile Galante is now going back to this extraordinary musician and presents his work as a composer of chamber vocal music. Marchesi published during his stay in London two different collections of ariettas with fortepiano and harp accompaniment. The Ariette op. 1 & 2 are sweet musical cameos dominated by remarkable elegance. They perfectly embody the taste of the time and represent Marchesi’s wish to use his popularity as an opera singer to push in front of the audience a more all-round image of himself as an artist. The program is rounded off with brilliant instrumental pieces for fortepiano and harps by female composers Anne-Marie Krumpholz (1766-1824) and Veronika Rosalia Cianchettini (1769-1833) who worked with Marchesi in London.

CD presentatie:
De CD ‘A Souvenir from London‘, is voor de aanwezigen bij deze speciale gelegenheid, te verkrijgen voor €15,- (vriendelijk verzoek met gepast geld in cash te betalen)

Stile Galante
Stile Galante is a cultural project devoted to Italian music of the 18th century, started in 2010. The project aims to merge academic research and performance, and focuses the attention of scholars and musicians on vocal music. The ensemble records for Pan Classics and Glossa, and is conducted by Stefano Aresi. Stile Galante promotes each year a university conference and offers cultural events in collaboration with schools and public and private cultural institutes. Peculiarly positive reviews of the enemble’s work can be found on the pages of Avvenire, BBC Music Magazine, BR Klassiek, Il Corriere Musicale, Diapason, Eighteenth-Century Music, Goteborgs Posten, Gramophone, The Guardian, Internazionale, The Irish Times, Klassieke Zaken, Der Spiegel, Sunday Times, De Volkskrant, Die Zeit…