Concerts 2026

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“Between Baroque and Romanticism” Napoli, Monday 23 March 2026

PLAN

J.S.Bach, Gigue from Suite II for cello solo in D minor BWV 1008

H.Purcell , “Dido’s Lament” da Dido and Aeneas – cello and piano

J.A.Hasse , “Pale the sun” from Artaxerxes – aria of Artabano, contralto

A. Corelli, Prelude and Gigue from the Sonata op.5 n.8 for cello and piano

Marie Antoinette of Habsburg, “He’s my friend” – soprano

N. Porpora, Cantabile from VII Sonata in F major – cello da shoulder and piano

J.Offenbach, Barcarolle for two voices – soprano/contralto

D. Cimarosa, Sonata in D minor – pianoforte

M.Malibran, Tarantella – soprano

F.Schubert , “Standchen” Serenade D889 – cello and piano

G. Rossini, Funny duet of two cats

“A wonderful musical journey from Baroque to Romanticism, among rare jewels by Hasse, Get rid of it, and pieces by Purcell, Purple, Corelli, performed by the cello da shoulder, fabulous instrument in vogue between the 17th and 18th centuries, up to Offenbach's melodies, Sandwich, Rossini, in the stupendous setting of the Lutheran Church of Naples”.

Notes on the Shoulder Cello

‘Fare the dry XVII. and the first half of the 18th century, the Shoulder Cello was a popular instrument among violinists, if only for the extension of opportunities it offered them.

They used it to play the bass line, accompaniments and also solo obligatory parts. Composers wrote sonatas and concertos for this instrument or that could be played on it and it was widely used as an obligatory instrument in church or chamber cantata arias.

Northern Italian cellists/violinists traveled all over Europe. Caldara left their traces in Catalonia, Bononcini and Dall'Abaco. The violinist, Cellist and researcher Diana Roche of Barcelona is researching a large production of church cantatas by Catalan composers who regularly employed the five-string cello piccolo in solo and obligatory parts between the late 17th and mid-18th centuries..

We still have some instruments in museums that are very similar to the cello da shoulder that we use today. Those built by Johann Christian Hoffman, friend and luthier of Johann Sebastian Bach, they are only the most famous and relevant. We have information on five of these instruments: unfortunately two were lost during the war. Of those that still exist today, one is in Leipzig, one in Brussels and one in Berkeley. One of these five appears in the inventory of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach's death, and another was owned by the Thomaskantor until the Second World War.' Daniela Gaidano

*Maestro A.Vitolo plays a Shoulder Cello by the luthier Alessandro Visintini