il pomo d’oro
il pomo d’oro was founded in 2012. The ensemble was named after Antonio Cesti’s 1666 opera for the wedding celebrations of Leopold I and Margarita Teresa of Spain, one of the largest, most expensive and most spectacular opera productions in the still young history of the genre.
The ensemble is characterized by its authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical periods. The musicians are all well-known specialists in the field of historically informed performance practice, working with conductors such as Riccardo Minasi, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou and Enrico Onofri. Concertmaster Zefira Valova leads the orchestra for various projects. Since 2016 Maxim Emelyanychev has been chief conductor, with Francesco Corti as principal guest conductor since 2019. il pomo d’oro appears regularly at Europe’s leading concert halls and festivals. Following the worldwide success of In War and Peace: Harmony Through Music with Joyce DiDonato, il pomo d’oro and Maxim Emelyanychev are now presenting My Favourite Things with the US mezzo-soprano.
The ensemble’s discography includes several opera recordings, such as Handel’s Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato, Serse, which won the prestigious Premio Abbiati del disco in Italy, Tamerlano, Partenope, Ottone and Apollo e Dafne, Leonardo Vinci’s Catone in Utica and Alessandro Stradella’s La doriclea, which won the German Record Critics’ Prize. Other recordings include recitals with Francesca Aspromonte, Emőke Baráth, Max Emanuel Cencic, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Ann Hallenberg, Jakub Józef Orliński, Lisette Oropesa and Xavier Sabata. Instrumental albums include Haydn’s violin and keyboard concertos, a cello album with Edgar Moreau, which won an Echo Klassik Award in 2016, Bach’s violin and keyboard concertos with Shunske Sato and Francesco Corti and virtuoso violin concertos with Dmitry Sinkovsky, which won the Diapason d’Or.
il pomo d’oro is an official ambassador of El Sistema Greece, a humanitarian project providing free musical education to children in Greek refugee camps. il pomo d’oro plays charity concerts and offers workshops and music lessons according to the El Sistema method on a frequent regular basis in various refugee camps in Greece.