Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3 Carlotta Colombo, Lucia Cortese, Marta Fumagalli, Gianluca Ferrarini, Mauro Borgioni

• Giovanni Battista Mazzaferrata (ca. 1640 - 1691): Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3:
• 1 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: I. Allegrezza allegrezza. Libertà in amor 05:59
• 2 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: II. Angosciosi deliri 09:07
• 3 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: III. Che impertinente usanza 07:01
• 4 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: IV. Tormenti che volete 08:09
• 5 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: V. Che t'ho fatto o speranza 05:56
• 6 Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3: VI. Amor vorebbe far delle solite sue 08:57
• Total Runtime 45:09

Info for Mazzaferrata: Canzonettas & Cantatas for 2 Voices, Op. 3

This album features premiere recordings of works from the Opus 3 set of canzonettas and cantatas for two voices by Giovanni Battista Mazzaferrata (c.1640–1681). He was an Italian composer and organist from Pavia who studied with Tarquinio Merula and held capellmeister positions at Vercelli Cathedral (1658–63) and Ferrara’s Accademia della Morte (1665–81).

The Opus 3 set was published in Bologna in 1668 and dedicated to Count Angelo Porro of Milan, and this album features 6 of the 11 compositions comprising the collection: Libertà in Amor, Che impertinente usanza and Che t’ho fatto o Speranza are canzonettas; Angosciosi deliri and Tormenti, che volete? are more serious songs; and Rifiuto d’Amor is a cantata.

Formally, the compositions consist of several sections played attacca, featuring all the main baroque genres such as arias in duet, arias for solo voice with basso continuo, secco and accompanied recitatives and more ‘theatrical’ recitation. Mazzaferrata’s compositional technique achieves both expressive and textural contrasts between the sections. In accordance with the seconda prattica, there is a predominant ‘concerting’ (dialoguing) of the voices (even with the active presence of the instrumental bass) making use of counterpoint and imitation, canon, stretta and exchange of motives. The composer also employs rhetorical figures (theory of the affections) and madrigalisms (word painting) in all of the works. The vocal parts are virtuosic, foreshadowing bel canto-type colouratura, featuring melismas and large leaps.

Mazzaferrata’s music gives an impression of versatility: on the one hand these compositions were written well before 1680, according to the rhetorical rules set out by Baldassare Castiglione in Il libro del Cortegiano including the effortlessness (‘sprezzatura’) of Caccini and Peri and the influence of Monteverdi; yet there is innovation in fragments amounting to near late-Baroque with Bachian basso movimentato. The composer therefore constitutes a bridge between the past and the future.

Carlotta Colombo, soprano
Lucia Cortese, soprano
Marta Fumagalli, mezzo-soprano
Gianluca Ferrarini, tenor
Mauro Borgioni, baritone
La Ghirlanda Mosicale

Carlotta Colombo
The Italian soprano Carlotta Colombo began her singing studies at the age of 16. After graduating from the conservatory in Como she achieved a diploma in both opera and Renaissance and Baroque singing with Alessandra Ruffini and Roberto Balconi. At the same time, she completed a degree in philosophy at the University of Milan.

As a concert singer, Carlotta Colombo has appeared in the I Pomeriggi Musicali concert series in Milan and at various festivals, among them the Bologna Festival, the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, MITO SettembreMusica, Roma Festival Barocco, Urbino Musica Antica, the Stresa Festival, the Reate Festival in Rieti, the Styriarte in Graz, Resonanzen in Vienna, the Trigonale in Klagenfurt, the Tyrol Easter Festival, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Klangvokal Music Festival in Dortmund, the Bad Arolsen Baroque Festival, Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, the Brighton Early Music Festival, Musica Sacra in Maastricht, the Festtage Alter Musik Basel, Sastamala Gregoriana in Finland and the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato (Mexico). Opera houses and concert halls at which she has performed both as a soloist and in ensembles include La Scala and the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, the Teatro Sociale in Como, the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara, the Teatro alla Pergola in Florence, the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin, the Theater an der Wien, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Philharmonie Essen, the Teatro Juárez in Guanajuato and the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Carlotta Colombo has worked with leading Italian ensembles including Ensemble Zefiro, Concerto Romano, Il Pomo d’Oro, La fonte musica, La Venexiana, laBarocca, Il Canto di Orfeo and La Divina Armonia, and with the Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble. She has sung under the direction of Baroque specialists such as Dmitry Sinkovsky, Alfredo Bernardini, Gianluca Capuano, Ruben Jais, Alessandro Quarta, Michele Pasotti and Paul O’Dette. In 2022 she was a finalist at the International Cesti Singing Competition in Innsbruck.

She has appeared on CD recordings for the labels Glossa, Arcana, cpo, Dynamic, Concerto Classics, Brilliant Classics, Da Vinci Classics and Tactus.

Lucia Cortese
Born in Genoa, Lucia has graduated very young in trombone at Conservatory “N. Paganini” in Genoa. After she started studying singing, she graduates with the highest mark at ISSM “C. Monteverdi” in Cremona, where in December 2015 she gets the 2nd level postgraduate Degree in Baroque Singing with a final grade of 110/110 with highest honours. Lucia has improved her Baroque repertoire with the soprano Roberta Invernizzi and the contralto Sara Mingardo. As a member of the Piacenza City Theatre’s Choir, she has already collected important collaborations with Artists, like Riccardo Muti, Donato Renzetti, Kazushi Ono, Nicola Pazkowski and Andrea Battistoni. She took part to some important events as well: she has performed at the Ravenna Festival, the Alto Adige Festival, the Opera Season at the Piacenza City Theatre and at the Alighieri Theatre in Ravenna. In that period, she has auditioned in Pisa for the “Catone in Utica”, a production by “Auser Musici”; she has been evaluated suitable for the role of Marzia. During the “Festival Monteverdi” in Cremona, in 2016 Lucia has performed with “Cremona Antiqua” directed by Antonio Greco and in June 2017 she has taken part to Ballo delle Ingrate” and “Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” directed by Roberto Perata. In May 2017, she sang with the contralto Sara Mingardo and “Virtuosi Italiani” at the Ristori Theatre in Verona. She also performed “Il ritorno di Ulisse” and “L’incoronazione di Poppea”, both by Monteverdi, during the “Schwetzingen Festival” at the Rokoko Theatre in Schwetzingen with “La Venexiana”. Together with Roberta Invernizzi she recorded a CD with Antono Cesti’s arias and duets with tha Sezione Aurea ensemble. She collaborates with “Accademia del Ricercare” of Turin and “Accademia d’Arcadia”, that has an intense activity both in Italy and in France, where some concerts will take place in 2018. In 2019 begins the collaboration with Camerata Accademica in Padua recording by Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello’s cantatas for soprano, strings and continuo with Elegia label.

Marta Fumagalli
mezzosoprano, graduated with honors in Modern Literature, in February 2009 achieved the Diploma at Conservatorio di Musica “G. Verdi” in Como, under the supervision of soprano Cristina Rubin. In 2022, she attended the annual baroque singing masterclass at the highly specialized Polo Nazionale Artistico in Verona, with the contralto Sonia Prina. Actually, she studies with Roberto Balconi at Conservatorio ‘G. Cantelli’ in Novara.

She collaborates regularly in particular with baroque music ensembles (Cappella Neapolitana, Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri, Homme Armé, La Florida Cappella, La Risonanza, Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori, Festina Lente, Vox Luminis, La Venexiana, Le Concert des Nations, Coro RSI/I Barocchisti, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il canto di Orfeo, LaVerdi Barocca, Atalanta Fugiens, Cantar Lontano, Ensemble Salomone Rossi, La Divina Armonia, Dolce e Tempesta, Accademia degli Erranti, Allabastrina Ensemble) and, as soloist, she performs in Italy and abroad (Festival Cantar di Pietre, FloReMus, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Teatro Fraschini, Teatro alla Scala, Rioja Forum Logrono, Innsbrucker Hofmusik Festival, Napoli Musica Sacra Festival, Concerti al Cenacolo, Novecento, Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini, Festival MiTo, Centre Lyrique Clermont-Ferrand, Osterfestival Tirol, FéMas Sevilla, De Singel Anversa, Wratislavia Cantans, Rencontres Musicales de Vézelay, Festival Antiqua Bolzano, Intra Muros Festival, Suoni d’Arte, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Teatro G. Verdi di Pordenone, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ Amsterdam, San Sebastian Kursaal, De Oosterpoort Groningen, Concertzaal Tilburg, Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Rossi Festival Belgrado, Valletta International Baroque Festival, Intrecci Barocchi – Torino, Roma Festival Barocco, Festival d’Ambronay, Festival Les Nuits de Septembre, Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen, Misteria Paschalia, De Bijloke Gent, Associazione Scarlatti Napoli, Società del Quartetto di Milano, Festival Purtimiro, Festival de La Chaise-Dieu, Festival de Rocamadour, Ravenna Festival, Barockfestival S. Pölten, Teatro Regio di Torino, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Concerti del Quirinale, Festival Milano Musica, Sicut Sagittae, Festival Monteverdi Cremona, Auditorium de Lyon, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcellona, Arsenal Metz, Festival des Abbayes en Lorraine, Festival Barocco Boliviano, Philharmonie Paris, Pavia Barocca, Bozar Music, LaVerdi Barocca, Festival Baroque du Pays du Mont Blanc, Oh! Festival, Festival de l’Haut Jurà, Festival AMUZ, George Enescu Festival Bucarest, Saison Musicale de Royaumont, Festival de Sablé, Semana de Musica Religiosa de Cuenca, Musikfest, Seviqc Brezice, Festival Freunde alter Musik, Internasjonale Kirkemusikkfestival Oslo, Salzburger Bachgesellschaft, Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de’ Turchini, Clasicos en Alcalà).

In June 2018, she wins the Diapason D’Or Decouvérte award for the CD of the Mass in D Major by G. B. Pergolesi, recorded with Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri conducted by G. Prandi, for the Arcana-Outhere Music label.

Recently, several records are released featuring her: M. da Gagliano, ‘La Flora’ (Allabastrina ensemble, E. Sartori), for Glossa Music, G. F. Handel, ‘Italian cantatas’ (Ensemble Fantazyas, R. Balconi) for Brilliant Classic, B. Marcello, ‘Psalms and Sonatas’ (Ensemble Salomone Rossi, L. Cevidalli), A. Nola, ‘Tristes erant Apostoli’ (Cappella Neapolitana, A. Florio) and C. Arrigoni, ‘Tiranni affetti’ (Accademia degli Erranti), both for Dynamic; A. Giannettini, ‘L’Uomo in Bivio’ (Cantarlontano, M. Mencoboni), G. Bononcini, Oratorio ‘La conversione della Maddalena’ (La Venexiana, G. Palomba), L. Rossi, Orfeo (Allabastrina Ensemble, E. Sartori) for Glossa Music.

She’s member of the professional Musical Chapel of the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, directed by C. Gentilini.

She collaborates, both continuously and upon request, with various choral ensembles as professional vocal coach.

Mauro Borgioni
Born in Perugia, Mauro Borgioni began his musical education at the Conservatory of Music Francesco Morlacchi before perfecting his skills at the Civic School of Music in Milan and the Fondation Royaumont where he won a scholarship in Baroque Music.

One of the most sought after baritones in the field of Baroque repertoire, Mauro has collaborated with conductors such as Jordi Savall, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Federico Maria Sardelli, Rinaldo Alessandrini… in some of the most important theatres and concert halls around the world, including the Wiener Konzerthaus, Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. He also appeared at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

Renowned for his Monteverdi, he has performed the title role in L’Orfeo at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara and Opera Grand Avignon, the title role in Il Ritorno di Ulisse in patria in Rome and Cremona and recently in an Ottavio Dantone/Pier Luigi Pizzi production at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna. Mauro returned several times to the role of Testo in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda of which an album with La Fonte Musica and Michele Pasotti is to be released shortly.

On the concert platform, Mauro has sung Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, Bach’s St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor, Vivaldi’s Senna festeggiante, Haydn’s Paukenmesse and Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, Requiem and Great Mass in C Minor. He has also performed Handel’s Messiah, La Resurrezione, Esther (Haman).

Other Baroque operatic highlights to date include Handel’s Rodelinda (Garibaldo) at the Theater Kiel and and Acis & Galatea (Polyphemus) in Ferrara conducted by Alessandro Quarta, Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso (Astolfo) and Farnace (Aquilio) both under the baton of Federico Maria Sardelli at the Teatro Comunale Ferrara and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell at both the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna.

In contemporary repertoire, Mauro could be heard in the role of The Traveller in Curlew River and in the title role in Noye's Fludde both by Britten with the Prato Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Webb. Add to this Aye in Akhnaten by Philipp Glass with the Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino led by Dante Anzolini. Recently, he created the lead role, Jacob, in the world premiere of the opera The Song of the Ladder by John Barber, commissioned and produced by the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato and Teatro Metastasio di Prato.

Mauro Borgioni’s extensive discography includes many works from the Baroque era, such as “La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina” by Francesca Caccini (Glossa), “La Flora” by Marco da Gagliano (Glossa), “Amare e fingere” by Alessandro Stradella (Arcana), “Motets and Sonatas” by Maurizio Cazzati (Pan Classics)… as well as the Complete Songs by both Samuel Barber and Alban Berg (Brilliant Classics). Mauro will soon release his first solo album, dedicated to Handel’s and Tommaso Bernardo Gaffi’s Italian Cantatas, on the Arcana label.

In the near future, he will reprise L’Orfeo in a Jordi Savall/Pauline Bayle production at Opéra Grand Avignon, and, with Michele Pasotti and La Fonte Musica, on a European tour including the Wiener Konzerthaus, deSingel in Antwerp, Concertgebouw in Bruges, Teatro Fraschini in Pavia and the Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht. He will also perform the title role in the new production of the Cremona Monteverdi Festival of Il Ritorno di Ulisse in patria by Claudio Monteverdi staged by Davide Livermore.

This album contains no booklet.