Splendours of the Gonzaga. Sacred Music from Wert to Monteverdi Biscantores & Luca Colombo

• Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643): Selva morale e spirituale:
• 1Monteverdi: Selva morale e spirituale: Confitebor III alla francese, SV 26706:21
• Benedetto Pallavicino (1551 - 1601): Dum complerentur:
• 2Pallavicino: Dum complerentur: I. Dum complerentur03:56
• 3Pallavicino: Dum complerentur: II. Cum ergo Essent03:50
• Salomone Rossi (1570 - 1630): Keter yitnu:
• 4Rossi: Keter yitnu03:53
• Giaches de Wert (1535 - 1596): Adesto dolori meo:
• 5Wert: Adesto dolori meo03:41
• Claudio Monteverdi: Messa e Salmi:
• 6Monteverdi: Messa e Salmi: Litanie della Beata Vergine, SV 20411:33
• Giaches de Wert: Omnis homo primum:
• 7Wert: Omnis homo primum02:08
• Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1550 - 1622): Magnificat VIII toni:
• 8Gastoldi: Magnificat VIII toni06:31
• Benedetto Pallavicino: Misericordias Domini:
• 9Pallavicino: Misericordias Domini03:14
• Claudio Monteverdi: Cantate Domino, SV 293:
• 10Monteverdi: Cantate Domino, SV 29302:54
• Amante Franzoni (1575 - 1629): Dixit Dominus VI toni:
• 11Franzoni: Dixit Dominus VI toni06:38
• Giaches de Wert: Speremus meliora omnes:
• 12Wert: Speremus meliora omnes03:32
• Salomone Rossi: Yesusum midbar:
• 13Rossi: Yesusum midbar03:38
• Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi: Regina coeli:
• 14Gastoldi: Regina coeli01:16
• Total Runtime01:03:05

Info for Splendours of the Gonzaga. Sacred Music from Wert to Monteverdi

Mantua and the Gonzaga family represent one of the summits of European humanistic and Renaissance expression. This project addresses one of the city's greatest periods with sacred works by the leading musicians of the Gonzaga court, at a time when music was the primary tool employed by the Gonzaga dukes to assert their prestige over other Italian cities; this golden age began with the foundation of the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara and its cappella under Giaches de Wert during the rule of Guglielmo Gonzaga in 1565 and lasted until the sack of Mantua in 1630. The Ensemble Biscantores specialise in the performance of late Renaissance and Baroque music; here, thanks to the research, study and transcriptions made by its director Luca Colombo, they explore the Mantuan court of the Gonzagas and the liturgy specific to the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara.

Biscantores
Luca Colombo, conductor

Biscantores
is a vocal and instrumental ensemble founded and directed by Luca Colombo. The ensemble presents a very dynamic ensemble that can range from madrigal ensemble to chamber group.

Specialised in the Italian repertoire of the late Renaissance and Baroque, the Biscantores are musicians who have matured their training in the most prestigious Italian and foreign musical realities.

Their ongoing quest to recover the Italian musical heritage of the 17th century has resulted in an extensive project on the Mantuan court of the Gonzaga family, presented at The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in the prestigious setting of "Villa I Tatti" in Florence.

Luca Colombo
From a very young age, Luca Colombo dedicated himself to studying the piano, and later the organ, immediately approaching Renaissance and Baroque music. He studied composition with Maestro Bruno Zanolini at the 'Giuseppe Verdi' Conservatory in Milan and, at the same institution, he graduated with top marks in choral music and choir conducting with Maestro Domenico Zingaro. He specialised in Renaissance polyphony with top marks and honours at the Conservatorio 'Tito Schipa' in Lecce under the guidance of maestro Diego Fratelli, with whom he also completed a specialist diploma in polyphony at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan.

Alongside baroque and renaissance music, he undertook the study of Gregorian chant with maestro Johannes Berchmans Göschl at the international courses in Cremona. He deepened his study by singing in the vocal group 'More Antiquo' in Lugano (CH) directed by Giovanni Conti.

He founded and directs the vocal group Ensemble Biscantores, recognised as one of the most interesting young Italian ensembles, with which he performs in the main Italian and European festivals with great success with audiences and critics.

Alongside his artistic activity, he also researches and transcribes, focusing mainly on music from Mantua. For the Libroforte publishing house, directed by Vittorio Ghielmi, he has published several volumes on Renaissance music.

He is regularly invited to hold seminars and masterclasses on Renaissance and Baroque performance practices at conservatories and specialised institutions.

He teaches theory, Renaissance counterpoint and exercises on original sources at the Early Music Institute of the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan.

Booklet for Splendours of the Gonzaga. Sacred Music from Wert to Monteverdi