Il ballo / Il combattimento
Il Pomo d’Oro
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Date
- 20:00 / Cancelled 20:00 / Sold out Monday, 20:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
25% – Under 30
10% – Over 65
Cartão Gulbenkian:
50% – Under 30
20% – Over 65
10% – 30 to 65
- Harpsichord, Conductor
- Soprano
- Soprano
- Soprano
- Mezzo-Soprano
- Countertenor
- Tenor
- Baritone
- Baritone
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Il Pomo d’Oro
Il pomo d'oro was founded in 2012 and is characterized by an authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical period. The musicians, all well-known specialists, are among the best in the field of historical performance practice.
The ensemble has become known for its concert performance and recording of many operas, and has worked with conductors Riccardo Minasi, Maxim Emelyanychev, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou, Enrico Onofri and Francesco Corti. Concert master Zefira Valova leads the orchestra in various projects. Since 2016 Maxim Emelyanychev has been its chief conductor, and since 2019 Francesco Corti is principal guest conductor.
The ensemble has collaborated on performances and recordings with world renowned instrumentalists including Francesco Corti, Giovanni Sollima, Edgar Moreau, Shunske Sato, and Dmitry Sinkovsky, and superstar singers including Joyce DiDonato, Cecilia Bartoli, Jakub Józef Orliński, Michael Spyres, Ann Hallenberg, Sandrine Piau, Mélissa Petit, Franco Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cenčić, Xavier Sabata, Lisette Oropesa, and Fatma Said to name a few.
Il pomo d'oro is a regular guest in prestigious concert halls and festivals all over Europe and regularly collaborates with mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato. After the worldwide success of their programmes of ‘In War and Peace’ and ‘My favorite things’, il pomo d’oro and Maxim Emelyanychev rejoined Joyce DiDonato for a worldwide tour of her ‘EDEN project that spanned three years, finishing in September 2024. The project won numerous accolades, including a Grammy nomination, a Gramophone award, a ‘Choc’ from Classica, an an ‘Opus Klassik’ award.
In 2022 il pomo d’oro started a long-term recording project of Mozart-Symphonies and selected solo-concerts with Maxim Emelyanychev conducting. The first volume, ‘The Beginning and the End’ was released with Aparté in early 2023, featuring Mozart’s first and last symphony and piano-concerto No. 23 with Maxim Emelyanychev as soloist.
The 2023/24 season saw numerous record releases, including Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with Joyce DiDonato and Maxim Emelyanychev, ‘Al-Bunduqiyya - The Lost Concerto’ with Giovanni Sollima and Federico Guglielmo, the second volume of the Mozart project with Emelyanychev and Ivan Podyomov, and ‘Beyond’ with Jakub Józef Orliński, which won the prestigious Fryderyk Award for Early Music Album of the Year, the 2023 Caecilia Award, and the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award.
The same season, il pomo d’oro continued to tour outstanding opera-in-concert with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Handel’s Berenice, and Monteverdi’s Orfeo together with conductors Maxim Emelyanychev and Francesco Corti. Recital tours included ‘Al-Bunduqiyya’ with Giovanni Sollima, ‘Contra-Tenor’ with Michael Spyres, ‘EDEN’ with Joyce DiDonato to Asia and South America, and a sell-out 21-concert European tour of ‘Beyond’ with Jakub Józef Orliński followed by a North American tour of 7 concerts. The tour continues and next stops include further performances across Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States.
In the 2024/25 season, the orchestra continues to collaborate with incredible musicians and soloists and will see opera-in-concert productions of Handel’s Alcina and Jephtha, and staged productions of Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. The il pomo d’oro choir will perform their critically acclaimed programme of Gesualdo’s Sacrae Cantiones, and Monteverdi’s Vespers with conductor Giuseppe Maletto. In recital, the ensemble will join forces with Julie Fuchs, Michael Spyres, Pene Pati, Joyce Didonato, and Jakub Józef Orliński and will continue to work with cellist Giovanni Sollima for performances across Europe. The album of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, recorded following a sell-out European tour with Joyce DiDonato and Maxim Emelyanychev, will be released on Erato/Warner records in 2024, along with releases of new projects with lutist Miguel Rincon, tenor Pene Pati, and cellist Giovanni Sollima in the near future.
Il pomo d’oro is official ambassador of El Sistema Greece, a humanitarian project to provide 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.
The name of the ensemble il pomo d'oro refers to Antonio Cesti's opera from the year 1666. Composed to the wedding celebrations of Emperor Leopold I and Margarita Teresa of Spain, Il Pomo d'Oro was probably one of the largest, most expensive and most spectacular opera productions in the still young history of the genre. 24 different stage designs, a horse-ballet of 300 horses, a fireworks display of 73,000 rockets, numerous ‚special effects'- superlatives, which should make the Emperor's court the highlight of cultural splendour in Europe.
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Francesco Corti
Conductor
Harpsichordist and conductor Francesco Corti was born in Arezzo, Italy, in a musical family in 1984. He studied organ in Perugia, then harpsichord in Geneva and in Amsterdam.
He was awarded at the International "Johann Sebastian Bach" Competition in Leipzig (2006) and at the Bruges Harpsichord Competition (2007).
As a soloist and conductor, he has appeared in recitals and concerts all over Europe, in the USA and Canada, in Latin America, in Asia and in New Zealand. He has performed in halls such as Thêatre des Champs Elysées (Paris), Bozar (Bruxelles), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Philharmonie (Berlin and Hamburg), Mozarteum and Haus für Mozart (Salzburg) and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Teatro Real (Madrid), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barecelona), Tonhalle (Zürich).
Since 2018 he is principal guest conductor of il Pomo d’Oro. Among other projects with this ensemble, he has conducted European tours of Händel’s Orlando, Radamisto and Tolomeo. His collaboration with Pomo d’Oro include numerous recordings. He is invited to lead Les Musiciens du Louvre, Tafelmusik, Freiburger Barockorchester, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Kammerorchester Basel, B’Rock and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging.
Starting January 2023, he is musical director at the Drottningholm Royal Court Theater, where he has conducted new productions of Händel’s Agrippina, Purcell’s Fairy Queen, Lully’s Armide and Telemann’s Orpheus.
The 2024-25 seasons has seen Francesco conduct Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso in Bayreuth, Händel’s Alcina and Jephtha with Pomo d’Oro, Terradella’s Merope with Akamus, a tour of Australia with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and his debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto. 2025-26 includes Don Giovanni in Gent and Antwerp, Händel’s Giulio Cesare with Pomo d’Oro, Telemann’s Otto with Akamus, Monteverdi’s Poppea at Drottningholm and Francesco’s debut at the Dutch National Opera with Le Nozze di Figaro.
His solo recordings have been awarded some of the most prestigious prizes worldwide (Diapason d’or de l’Année, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Grammophon’s Editor’s Choice, Choc de Classica…). His latest recording (Arcana) is dedicated to Bach’s Violin and Harpsichord Sonatas, recorded with Ilya Gringolts.
Since September 2016, he is professor of harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
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Ana Quintans
Soprano
Ana Quintans studied at the Conservatory of Lisbon and the Flanders Opera Studio. She worked with conductors like Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Michel Corboz, Vincent Dumestre, Leonardo Garcia Alarcón and Marc Minkowski.
Recordings include Fauré’s Requiem, and La Spinalba by Almeida, Monteverdi´s L´Orfeo with Cappella Mediterranea and Les Indes Galantes with La Chapelle Harmonique. She also recorded a solo CD, featuring arias by Albinoni as well as the title role in Sebastian Duron´s Coronis. DVD-recordings include Charpentier´s David et Jonathas and Monteverdi´s L´Incoronazione di Poppea, both with Les Arts Florissants under William Christie9
She worked with stage directors like Deborah Warner, Andreas Homoki, Barry Kosky, Pier Luigi Pizzi and Graham Vick and at theatres like Opéra de Lyon, Bavarian State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid Dutch National Opera and concert halls like Gulbenkian, Salle Pleyel as well as at the festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne and Salzburg.
Recent highlights include Salieri´s opera Cublai gran Kan di Tartari at Theater an der Wien with Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset (also recorded for CD) and the title role of Joao Guilherme Ripper´s chamber opera Domitila at the Fundacion Juan March in Madrid, which she repeated at the Teatro Mayor in Bogota. Other projects this and coming season include concerts with the ensembles of Cappella Mediterranea (a tour of choreographed concerts of Rameau´s Les Indes Galantes) and Le Poème Harmonique.(Dido and Aeneas by Purcell), Purcell´s The Fairy Queen at the Savonlinna Festival as well as the role of Sangaride in Lully´s Atys at the Royal Opera of Versailles.
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Jin Jiayu
Soprano
Jiayu Jin, soprano, won Second Prize and a special award at the 2024 Cesti International Baroque Opera Competition in Innsbruck, after First Prizes at the Cavalli–Monteverdi Competition 2023 in Cremona and the Provenzale Competition 2024 in Naples. She began her career in 2022 with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi, and soon appeared at leading festivals across Europe.
In 2024 she sang Euridice and La Musica in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Monteverdi Festival with Il Pomo d’Oro under Francesco Corti, the title role of Primavera in Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Teatro Massimo di Palermo, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Seville with Il Pomo d’Oro and Ann Hallenberg.
In 2025 she appeared in Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine under Gianluca Capuano at the Salzburg Festival and Opéra de Monte-Carlo, sang Arianna in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik with Stefano Demicheli, and gave a solo recital with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
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Sonia Tedla
Soprano
She graduated from the G. B. Martini Conservatory and earned a degree in Musicology from the University of Bologna. She later specialized in 17th and 18th century repertoire, studying with internationally renowned artists. She collaborates regularly with distinguished conductors such as R. Alessandrini, A. Bernardini, G. Capuano, F. Corti, A. De Marchi, P. Herreweghe, M. Mencoboni, and F. M. Sardelli. She has performed at prestigious venues and festivals, including Wigmore Hall in London, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Wiener Konzerthaus, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Boston Early Music Festival, Innsbruck Festwochen der Alten Musik, Utrecht Oude Muziek Festival, Bourgie Hall in Montreal, San Diego Early Music Society, and Lausanne Festival Bach. Her operatic appearances include Teatro alla Scala, Opéra de Lyon, and Teatro Comunale in Bologna. Her discography includes projects for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, Arcana, Dynamic, and Glossa.
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Luciana Mancini
Mezzo-Soprano
Chilean-Swedish mezzo-soprano Luciana Mancini is acclaimed for her intense stage presence and vocal expressiveness across a wide repertoire, from Renaissance and Baroque to Berio and Piazzolla.
In the 2025–26 season, she joins Il Pomo d’Oro for Monteverdi and Bach’s Johannespassion, appears in Handel’s Messiah with the Montreal Symphony under Rafael Payare, and tours Europe with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata. Additional engagements include the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, La Ritirata, and Bach Consort Wien.
Recent highlights include title roles in La Cenerentola, Handel’s Serse, and Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires at Theater Bonn. She also performed Maria at MusikTheater an der Wien and appeared at Mozartwochen Salzburg, with Nederlandse Reisopera and collaborated with Sasha Waltz in productions of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Her operatic roles have taken her to Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra Comique Paris and De Nationale Opera Amsterdam just to name a few.
Equally in demand in concert, she has worked with conductors such as Pablo Heras-Casado, Jordi Savall, and Iván Fischer, and orchestras including the Melbourne and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Freiburger Barockorchester, and Ensemble Pygmalion.
Her discography includes Juditha Triumphans with Ensemble Lorenzo da Ponte and Maria de Buenos Aires with Beethovenorchester Bonn (Capriccio).
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Leandro Marziotte
Countertenor
Leandro Marziotte, winner of the first prize at the Göttingen International Händel Competition and finalist at the Lugano International Countertenor Competition, holds a Master’s degree in Baroque Singing from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and a Bachelor’s degree in Singing from the Strasbourg Conservatory.
He is artistic director of the ensemble Gracia Barroca, with which he develops projects such as Las Musas de América, a cycle of compositions written by himself and based on poems by Latin American female writers.
He has performed leading opera roles including Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck, Arsamene in Serse, Orlando in Orlando, and Ottone in Agrippina by Händel, collaborating with ensembles such as Cappella Mediterranea (Leonardo García Alarcón), Le Poème Harmonique (Vincent Dumestre), Il Gusto Barocco (Jörg Halubeck), and Ensemble Caprice (Matthias Maute).
His discography features SONY Music, Harmonia Mundi, and Arcana, including the world premiere recording of Flavio Crispo by Heinichen and Neapolitan baroque cantatas. He has also appeared in Rodrigo by Händel under Laurence Cummings.
Leandro has sung in major theaters and festivals such as Teatro Real (Madrid), Maison de la Radio (Paris), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Maison Symphonique (Montreal), Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), Bach Festival (Leipzig), and the Händel Festivals of Halle and Göttingen.
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Matteo Straffi
Tenor
After graduating in Renaissance and Baroque singing in Novara with countertenor Roberto Balconi, Matteo Straffi has performed with renowned artists and conductors such as Evelyn Tubb and Michael Fields (Consort of Musicke), Alessandro Quarta (Concerto Romano), Eduardo Egüez (La Chimera), Giulio Prandi (Ghislieri Choir), Sesto Quatrini, Andrea De Carlo (Ensemble Mare Nostrum), Luca Guglielmi, Francesco Corti (Il Pomo d’Oro), Ottavio Dantone (Accademia Bizantina), Antonio Greco (Cremona Antiqua), and Federico Maria Sardelli (Modo Antiquo). He regularly appears at major Baroque festivals including the Monteverdi Festival (Cremona), Utrecht Early Music Festival, Grandezze & Meraviglie (Modena), and Roma Festival Barocco.
Matteo also attended the Advanced opera academy for lirique singers at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova for two years, working with artists such as Francesco Meli and Michele Pertusi, debuting in Rossini and Donizetti roles (Il turco in Italia, Rita). His repertoire ranges from early Baroque to late 18th- and early 19th-century opera and chamber music.
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Mauro Borgioni
Baritone
Born in Perugia, Mauro Borgioni studied at the Conservatory Francesco Morlacchi, the Civic School of Music in Milan, and the Fondation Royaumont, where he was awarded a scholarship in Baroque music. Today, he is recognized as one of the most sought-after baritones in the Baroque repertoire.
He has collaborated with leading conductors including Jordi Savall, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Rinaldo Alessandrini, and Federico Maria Sardelli, performing in major venues such as the Wiener Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Carnegie Hall, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Renowned for his interpretations of Monteverdi, Borgioni has sung the title role in L’Orfeo at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Opera Grand Avignon, and Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, as well as Il Ritorno di Ulisse in patria in Rome, Cremona, and Ravenna. His concert repertoire spans Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, Bach’s Passions and Mass in B Minor, Vivaldi’s Senna festeggiante, and works by Haydn, Mozart, and Handel.
His discography includes numerous Baroque works, as well as the complete songs of Samuel Barber and Alban Berg. Upcoming projects include a solo album of Handel and Gaffi cantatas and performances of Monteverdi with La Fonte Musica and Jordi Savall across Europe.
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Lisandro Abadie
Bass-baritone
Born in Buenos Aires. He graduated at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Lucerne Hochschule. Winner of the Edwin Fischer Memorial Prize in 2006.
He has sung under the direction of William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Francesco Corti, Rubén Dubrovsky, Andreas Reize, Václav Luks, Tōnu Kaljuste, Skip Sempé, Paul Agnew, Paul Goodwin, Vincent Dumestre and many others. He participated in numerous CD and DVD recordings.
He is also active as an independent researcher, translator, and lecturer in Historical Performance Practice. He teaches at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis since 2019 and is Professor of Baroque Singing at the Mozarteum University Salzburg since 2024.
Claudio Monteverdi
Gregorio Allegri
Claudio Monteverdi
Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda is one of Monteverdi’s compositions associated with the origins of post-Renaissance ballet and opera. Premiered during the Venetian Carnival of 1624, it tells of the passion between a Christian knight and a Muslim warrior. A fascinating dive by the Il Pomo d’Oro ensemble into the great works of the Baroque period, under the direction of Francesco Corti. The semi-staged concert format, devised by the Anagoor collective, evokes the lost original choreography, in a dialogue between the musical dramaturgy and the portrayal of the unequal status of women at the time.
Credits
ANAGOOR – Artistic project
Simone Derai – Video concept, direction and editing
Giulio Favotto – Director of photography
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.