Founded by Fabio Bonizzoni in 1995 La Risonanza began as a vocal and instrumental group before expanding its forces to become one of today’s major period instrument baroque chamber orchestras. The group began recording for Glossa in 2002.
Particular focus is given to music in the Italian style composed between the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries, exemplified by a seven volume series currently in progress for Glossa to record all the secular-texted Italian Cantatas with instrumental accompaniments written by Georg Frideric Handel. Joining La Risonanza for this (and other) projects are many of the current talented specialist guest vocalists, including Roberta Invernizzi, Nuria Rial and Emanuela Galli. The first volume in the series, Le cantate per il Cardinal Pamphili, was awarded The Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize for 2007.
Leading European festivals where La Risonanza have performed in recent years include the Festival Oudemuziek (Utrecht), Quincena Musical (San Sebastián), Semana de Música Religiosa (Cuenca), Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music (London), Festival Internacional de Santander, Rheingau Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio (Milan), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Arsenal (Metz), Styriarte Festival (Graz), Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome) and the Società del Quartetto (Milan).
Since 2007 La Risonanza has been the orchestra-in-residence of the French département of l’Aisne.
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Aside from directing La Risonanza the Milanese harpsichordist and organist Fabio Bonizzoni (he also teaches at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, the Conservatory of Trapani and the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano) has introduced us to his view on Glossa of keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and to a thrilling reading of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, among other recordings.
Initial studies in Italy were continued under Ton Koopman, being his only student graduating both in baroque organ and as a harpsichord soloist. His concert activities take him to concert halls throughout Europe (such as to the Auditorio Parco della musica, Rome, Arsenal, Metz, Teatro Real, Madrid, Salle Gaveau, Paris) as well as to the major early music festivals.
Fabio Bonizzoni returns with a further Glossa release dedicated to the chamber vocal output of Georg Friedrich Handel: here, a second volume of duets (and trios), which features the vocal talents of Roberta Invernizzi, Silvia Frigato, Thomas Bauer and Krystian Adam. [read more...]
The collective artistic endeavours of Glossa have recently been recognized with an award of Label of the Year for 2014 by a Europe-wide panel of classical music media organizations – print and online magazines, as well as radio broadcasters – who form the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) jury. This is to be presented at the Award Ceremony and Gala Concert in the Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw in April 2014. The Glossa adventure began back in 1992, led by two pioneering Spanish instrumentalists – brothers José Miguel Moreno and Emilio Moreno – who set about creating a treasure trove of recorded excellence, notably in the ever-developing field of “early music”. To this day, the label remains focused on its artists, supporting their musical journeys and inclinations, with the artistic direction entrusted to Carlos Céster. With a small team around him Céster operates from San Lorenzo de El Escorial, surrounded by the abundant natural riches of the mountains around Madrid and with an austere Monasterio in sight to ever encourage him in the rigour of his work. [read more...]
Having entranced audiences across Europe with their performances of the music which Georg Frideric Handel wrote during his time in Italy – mainly in Rome – between 1706-9, and having also delighted record buyers with the seven-volume series of “Le Cantate Italiane di Handel”, released on Glossa, Fabio Bonizzoni and his singers and musicians of La Risonanza have now gone on to impress the jury of the 2011 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. On October 6, at a ceremony held in The Dorchester hotel in London, the British magazine bestowed upon the Italian musicians a prestigious Gramophone Award in the Baroque Vocal category, for the final volume in the Handel series, Apollo e Dafne (a recording which contains two further cantatas, Agrippina condotta a morire and Cuopre talvolta il cielo as well as the title work). The singers on this disc were soprano Roberta Invernizzi and the two basses Thomas E. Bauer and Furio Zanasi. [read more...]
Fabio Bonizzoni’s attention on record to the music of Handel - which has, thus far, yielded seven discs devoted to the early Italian-texted cantatas - has just now had the good fortune to receive this year’s Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize for Apollo e Dafne, the final release in the present series for Glossa. This is the third time that Bonizzoni and his period-instrument ensemble La Risonanza have won this prestigious prize for their series of “Le Cantate Italiane di Handel” (previous winners were the first release, Le Cantate per il Cardinal Pamphili and the fifth, Clori, Tirsi e Fileno); three other recordings have also featured as runners-up. [read more...]
It is not only discerning music lovers around the globe who are giving a warm welcome to the recordings which are being published on Glossa; critical approval in the specialist media has been joining in as well. One example of the latter is the newly-instigated International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) which, for its inaugural 2011 edition, has chosen no less than nine of Glossa’s recent releases in its initial nominations. [read more...]