CD Music for Francesco II D'Este Prince of Music

Francesco II d’Este ruled over his duchy from 1674 to 1694, two decades that proved to be of exceptional importance for the history of music in Modena. The duke’s profound interest in music gave rise to a major upsurge in composition, performance and conservation. Indeed, his constant support for all things musical was captured by the historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori, who described the prince of d’Este as “extraordinarily handsome, with a charming combination of sweetness and majesty”. Francesco surrounded himself with musicians of quality, keeping abreast of all the musical styles, genres and tastes of the time. Exceptional composers, singers and instrumentalists headed for Modena, and some of them, such as Giovanni Battista Vitali (1632-1692) or Domenico Gabrielli (1659-1690), moved there permanently. This new recording presents music by Bononcini, Gabrielli, Colombi, Sorosina, Vitali, in instrumental and vocal music, especially secular Cantatas. The project came to life from an invitation on the part of the Grandezze e Meraviglie festival in Modena, and it is performed according to the highest standards of modern period-instrument practice by the festival’s house ensemble with the collaboration of Federico Lanzellotti (organ, musicological research and liner notes)