I Virtuosi Italiani

During the festival, XII International Christmas Festival of Arts

Love, Torment, Fury and Jealousy  (Amore, Tormento, Furore e Gelosia)

The orchestra of I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI is considered one of the most lively and qualified ensembles in the international musical scene. The orchestra, born in 1989, is to the present day on the hotspot for its artistic excellence, for its innovative musical projects and for the managing strategies it has displayed through its history. It regularly performs in the most important theatres and musical venues in Italy, while being frequently invited all around the world for performances and tours.

Among the most relevant performances of the last three years we highlight the concert for the Senate of the Republic of Italy – broadcasted live on RAI 1; the “Concert for Life and Peace” – performed in Rome, Betlehem and Jerusalem and broadcasted worldwide on RAI 1; a concert in the Sala Nervi of Vatican city in presence of the Pope; a tour around South America, in the most important concert venues and musical seasons of the continent, and the debut in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London.

I Virtuosi Italiani currently works with worldwide famous soloists and conductors; in the meantime it has developed a rich repertoire of musical records (more than 100 CDs for well-known recording houses and over 500.000 records sold all around the world). I Virtuosi Italiani, together with its leader Alberto Martini (here performing both as conductor and soloist), was awarded with the prestigious “Choc de la Musique” prize, the “Five stars – Goldberg prize”, the “Diapason d'or”, and received 5 stars from the Italian musical journal “Musica”, for the original interpretation of F.A. Bomporti's complete works (in first release).

 Among the most recent recordings there is a CD entirely dedicated to Philip Glass's compositions, for Orange Mountain Music records, with Massimo Mercelli flute, and the first worldwide release in recent times of the Cantatas by Nicolò Porpora, for Brilliant Classic Records.

 The recording for the prestigious label DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON, dedicated to the american composer Morten Lauridsen, was published in September 2018. In June 2019 it received the nomination of OPUS CLASSIC AWARDS 2019, the most important prize for classical music in Germany.
For Rossini's anniversary in 2018, I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI recorded a CD with some ouvertures from his most famous operas.

 In August 2019 I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI recorded a CD for WARNER CLASSICS – ERATO, entirely dedicated to Gioachino Rossini.

 Being focused on philological research, I Virtuosi Italiani often performs the baroque repertoire, at times with original baroque instruments.

 In this same repertoire, UNITEL CLASSICA has recently (Jan. 2013) published two DVDs with the performances of “Il Prigionier Superbo”, “La Serva Padrona” and “La Salustia” by G.B. Pergolesi, conducted by Corrado Rovaris.

 However, the ensemble is also devoted to the greatest possible versatility and to the entertainment of the vastest possible audience, with a special attention to the youth; for this reason, it has also distingushed itself for its research in the experimental repertoire. Collaborations with artists such as C. Corea, G., Bregovic, M. Nyman, L. Einaudi, F. Battiato, C. Picco, U. Caine, P. Fresu, E. Rava, A. Ruggiero, G.Trovesi  and R. Galliano head in this direction.

 I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI are both founders and principal performers of a musical season in Verona, where the orchestra is based, today at its XXI year, and of a season of sacred music in the beautiful church of San Fermo Maggiore in Verona.

 The performances of I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI are always warmly welcome both by audiences and by critics. Enrico Girardi, musical critic of “Il Corriere della Sera”, wrote that “I Virtuosi Italiani are an ensemble of absolute excellence. They approach the baroque, classical and contemporary repertoire not only with self-confidence, but with and adrenalinic determination and brilliance which give life and tension, though always within the range of a wise stylistic consistency”.

 From the year 2011 on, I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI has been the ensemble-in-residence of the musical season held in the in the church of Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.

 The artistic mission sees the Konzertmeister and principal violin Alberto Martini as the key figure, while the principal conductor is Corrado Rovaris. 

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Programme:

A. Corelli. Concerto Grosso Op.VI n.4 in Re Magg. 
Allegro - Adagio, Vivace - Allegro  
G.F. Handel.  Piangerò la sorte mia
G.F. Handel.  Vanne lungo dal mio petto
G.F. Handel. “Tu la mia stella sei” (aria di Cleopatra dall'Opera Giulio Cesare)
G.F. Haendel. Ouverture da “Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno” HWV 46°
G. F. Handel. “Falsa immagine” (aria di Teofane dall'Opera Ottone)
L. Vinci. “Fra l'orror della tempesta” (aria di Medarse dall’Opera Siroe Re di Persia)

Intermission

A. Vivaldi
Le Quattro Stagioni da "Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Invenzione" op.8
Concerto n.1 in Mi maggiore "La Primavera" 
Allegro, Largo, Allegro  
Concerto n.2 in sol minore "L'Estate" 
Allegro non molto, Adagio, Presto   
Concerto n.3 in Fa maggiore "L'Autunno" 
Allegro, Adagio molto, Allegro 
Concerto n.4 in fa minore "L'Inverno" 
Allegro non molto, Largo, Allegro

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ALBERTO MARTINI
Curriculum Vitae

Alberto Martini excelled at the Conservatory of Music in Verona, and went on to study under Maestro Corrado Romano at the Conservatory in Geneva. 

He has performed with many orchestras in Italy and overseas as a soloist, conductor, and konzertmeister (Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Angelicum, Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese, Orchestra di Lugano. Sinfonietta del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Accademia I Filarmonici, and I Virtuosi Italiani). He been a guest conductor at the major concert halls and music institutions at home and abroad: Teatro alla Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro La Fenice, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Teatro Regio di Parma, Associazione Barattelli de L’Aquila, Unione Musicale di Torino, and Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti di Roma. He has participated in the major European musical festivals, and is a regular guest performer at festivals in France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, Japan, Russia, China and Korea. 

On June 1st 2009 made his debut as soloist in prestigious Carnagie Hall (Isaac Stern Hall) in New York.

Alberto Martini has played principal second violin with leading orchestras including Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and Teatro alla Scala di Milano. He has worked with great conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Dmitri Yurovsky, Myun Whun Chung, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and Yuri Temirkanov. 

Alberto Martini’s discography includes over 50 recordings as a conductor for the Chandos, Emi, Naxos, Dynamic, Verany and Tactus labels, and he has sold more than 400,000 discs worldwide. As a conductor and soloist he has recorded Vivaldi’s complete works, and F.M. Veracini’s complete overtures and concertos (a world premiere). His world première recording of A. Bonporti’s complete works won the Goldberg Five Star Award, the Choc de la Musique award from the French magazine Le Monde de la Musique, and a number of five-stars awards from the Italian magazine MUSICA.

As concertmaster of I VIRTUOSI ITALIANI, he has performed with artists of internal acclaim, among whom we remember Mariella Devia, Barbara Hendricks, Giuliano Carmignola, Fabio Biondi, Maxence Larrieu, Enzo Dara, Claudio Desderi, Katia Ricciarelli, Cecilia Gasdia, Vincenzo La Scola, Misha Maisky, Andres Mustonen, Ilya Grubert, Lazar Berman, Pavel Vernikov, Bruno Giuranna, Lev Markiz, Patrick Gallois, Natalia Gutman and Julian Rachlin, Ilya Gringolts, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and many others.

He is a professor of violin at the Luca Marenzio Conservatory of Music in Brescia, he also teaches in the post-graduate master’s programme at the F.A.Bonporti Conservatory of Music in Trento.  

From 2007 to 2010 he has been Artistic Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica of Friuli Venezia Giulia. From August 2016 he is Artistic Director of Teatro Ristori in Verona (Italy).

He is regularly teaches master classes at home and abroad, and for a number of years has been collaborating with the TCU University of Fort Worth, Dallas, home of the prestigious Van Cliburn music competition.

Alberto Martini plays a wonderful Joseph Gagliano violin made in Napoli in 1755, and a magnificent Enrico Ceruti violin made in Cremona in 1840.