REGGIO INIZIATIVE CULTURALI
- RIC Artist Management -
Opera Prima
ensemble
OPERA PRIMA, a newly established ensemble directed by Cristiano Contadin, was created to bring historically informed concerts and recordings of the Renaissance and Baroque period to life. The heart of the project lies in exploring the repertoire of the viola da gamba in its various styles, and approaching all music with pleasure and enthusiasm, as if each work for this instrument was newly-composed. If, through passionate communication, we can touch the hearts of the public, then the language of early music will be easy to understand.
The first recording of Opera Prima, "The Complete Telemann Trio Sonatas and Concertos", for the Brilliant Classics label, received critical acclaim at the national and international level, and was proclaimed by Classic Voice Magazine as CD of the month in February 2015, while Musica Magazine confirmed Cristiano Contadin as "a first-rate artist for the sweetness of the sound, the stylistic relevance and the absolute mastery of the instrument". The following recording of Corrette’s “Les Délices de la Solitude” was praised by Fanfare Magazine as "lively, elegant and warm".
Opera Prima has performed concerts at festivals in Italy, Greece, and Estonia, and is currently preparing for a tour in the United States with the American soprano Amanda Forsythe, dedicated to virtuosic repertoire for soprano and viola da gamba.
PROGRAMMES
-
Brilliant Voices - Metastasio and the Galante viol
Orchestra, soprano and viola da gamba
A rare occasion to hear and enjoy the marvelous and virtuosistic late
repertory of the viola da gamba, with voice and string orchestra, with
gorgeous works of Graun, Hasse, Abel, Tartini.
-
Lachrimae – The alchemic journey
Opera Prima Consort (9 players)
The Alchemic cycle of Dowland’s Lachrimae is proposed here in a new
embellished version by the Opera Prima viol consort, with viola da braccio
and flute.
-
La Chambre - Musique du Roi
Duo theorbo/guitar and viola da gamba
This proposal is dedicated to the musicians that worked at the Chambre
du Roi of Versailles; especially the viol and tiorba music of Marais, De
Viseé, Forqueray, Corbetta e Lully.
-
Viaggio in Italia
Trio harpsichord, theorbo and viola da gamba
The viola da gamba in Italy and in the Italian-style repertoire seems to
have had a life of a few decades; in reality, as small cameos, pages
dedicated to the viola appear up to the second half of the eighteenth
century, such as Tartini's sonata for viola da gamba and basso continuo of
recent discovery.
-
Cantar Bastardo
Duo viola da gamba and baritone
A special project that Cristiano Contadin has recorded with Marco
Scavazza, baritone, dedicated to the Italian renaissance music: a
miscellaneous collection of the most interesting madrigali, villanelle, and
frottole played according the lost practice of Cantar alla viola.
-
Porta d'Oriente - Venezia and Doge’s music
Two violins, dulcian,harpsichord, bass viol
Program conceived and performed in Crete on the occasion of the 350th
anniversary of the liberation of the island of Candia from Venetian
domination. Music by authors living in the Venetian area from the early
Sixteenth Century to 1669. Proposal for now instrumental but with the
possibility of expansion with the inclusion of a singer.