W.A. Mozart: Coronation mass KV 317

Coro Canticum Novum

Accademia Hermans

Lucia Casagrande Raffi soprano

Chiara Giudice mezzo-soprano

Alessandro Fiocchetti tenor

Ferruccio Finetti bass

Fabio Ciofini conductor

REGINA COELI KV 108 for soprano, choir and orchestra

Regina coeli - Allegro

Quia quem meruisti - Tempo moderato

Ora pro nobis - Adagio un poco Andante

Alleluia - Allegro

EXULTATE, JUBILATE KV 165 for soprano e orchestra

Allegro, Recitativo, Andante, Molto Allegro

MESSA DELL’INCORONAZIONE KV 317 for solos, choir e orchestra

Kyrie

Gloria

Sonata da chiesa KV 329

Credo

Sanctus

Benedictus

Agnus Dei

Hermans Accademy

The Willelm Hermans Baroque Academy was established as an association in October 2000. Its members are instrumentalists and singers specialised in the execution of ancient music, with different opportunities for variation according to repertoire. The Academy's musicians have extensive experience both in Italy and abroad and have distinguished themselves at prestigious Festivals and Competitions, proving their exceptional musical and interpretative talent. The language developed by the group arises from the right balance of knowledge of performance practices for ancient music and the interpretative experience of individual instrumentalists. The Hermans Academy has recorded numerous CDs for different record labels, including Bongiovanni, Tactus, La Bottega Discantica, Brilliant Class (Netherlands), Glossa (Spain), teaming up with illustrious soloists, including Roberta Invernizzi, Bart Van Oort, Mauro Borgioni, Enrico Gatti, and Gloria Banditelli. It is highly active in Umbria, recording CDs in historic locations (courts and churches), organising festivals and concerts, and curating the artistic direction of the Hermans Festival - organ and ancient music concerts-; since Season 2010/11 has been the resident Orchestra of the Cucinelli Theatre in Solomeo di Corciano (PG). It has performed in top national music Seasons and has been invited to perform at international festivals in the USA. Canada, Mexico, Japan, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Serbia and Russia.

Canticum Novum

Coro Canticum Novum of Solomeo first formed in late 1986 on occasion of the Christmas festivities, upon the initiative of Father Alberto Seri and thanks to the enthusiasm of a small group of youths with a passion for music. Father Alberto's idea, combined with his capacity to involve, were so inspiring that in a short space of time, the group attracted numerous people, the majority from neighbouring towns. Fabio Cofini has been its conductor since the early months of 1994. Before its extensive participation in concerts, the Choir dedicated around a year of its time to in-depth study and meticulous research into its repertoire, highlighting its natural preference for renaissance and classical polyphony, without neglecting elaborations of popular song, negro spirituals, gospels and music by modern and contemporary authors. Attentive to timbre research and the accurate interpretation of musical text, the Choir, consisting of approximately 25 members, has participated in different choir festivals, with the following particularly worthy of mention: Natale in Coro, at the national festival Appuntamenti Polifonici Natalizi, at Agosto Corcianese and The International Peace Festival, Assisi. Its repertoire includes several works for Choir and Orchestra (Bach, Buxtehude, Telemann, Händel, Mozart, Faurè, Rheinberger and Dvorak), performed on occasion of important Festivals and concert Seasons. It has toured in Germany, France, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In 1996 it won the “profane music” section of the In Coro Festival-Competition. Since 1999 the eponymous association has been organising the Villa Solomei Festival.

Lucia Casagrande Raffi

Born in Gubbio (PG), she graduated in singing and then in Music Education with honours from the “F. Morlacchi” Conservatory, Perugia. She then obtained a second-level postgraduate degree with honours in Singing, majoring in interpretation and composition. At twenty-one she made her début at the XXIV Montepulciano Art Workshop and has been performing for years in Italy and abroad in the fields of opera, sacred, oratory and symphonic music. In 2010 she attended the Beniamino Gigli Awardsin Helsinki at the Sibelius Academy. She then went on to specialise in baroque repertoire, studying under Claudine Ansermet, Gloria Banditelli and Roberta Invernizzi, working with influential musicians of the sector and important chamber formations, including: Hermans Academy, Solisti Aquilani, Perugia Chamber Orchestra, Accademia degli Unisoni, Roma Barocca Ensemble, Instrumental Ensemble of the St Petronius Music Chapel. An increasingly refined performer of eighteenth century repertoire, she has been the guest at prestigious festivals including: Hermans Festival, Antigua Festival, Euro Mediterraneo, Antichi Organi, Corti Chiese e Cortili, Camerino Festival, Villa Solomei Festival, Barattelli Concerti, Sagra Musicale Umbra, Arti in Movimento festival, Todi Festival, Perdonanza Celestiniana, Artem Festival, Anghiari Festival, Terra D’Organi Antichi, Filarmonica Umbra. She has recorded forBottega Discantica, Bongiovanni, Da Vinci, Sheva, Brilliant Classic.

Chiara Giudice

After graduating in Piano and Singing from the “F. Morlacchi” Conservatory, Perugia, she went on to study with important exponents of the international opera singing scene: Claudio Desderi, Renato Bruson, Luciana D’Intino, Daniela Dessí and Fabio Armiliato. She made her début at Teatro Lirico di Spoleto as Barbarina and since 2003 she has increasingly performed in concerts, both in sacred and opera singing. She has played numerous parts, ranging from Mozart to Puccini (Berta in The Barber of Seville, The Countess in the Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Dorabella and Despina in Così fan Tutte; Serpina in Serva Padrona; Musette and Mimi in Bohème directed by the masters C. Desderi, Daniele Agiman, Stefano Seghedoni, Marco Moresco and Dian Tchobanov, Nedda in I pagliacci; Alice nel Falstaff by G. Verdi alongside the great baritone Renato Bruson and directed by Marco Boemi at the F. Cilea Theatre, Suor Angelica, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana). In 2010 she performed Mozart's Requiem as a soloist, in the presence of His Holiness in Castelgandolfo. She made her début in Tosca by G. Puccini, directed by Antonello Madau Diaz. She has worked with the Italian Culture Institute in Tunis and has performed in major cities in the USA and Netherlands. She has continued to develop with famous sopranos Daniela Dessì and Luisa Maragliano, and the tenor Fabio Armiliato. She also teaches alongside great artists and in prestigious operatic Academies.

Alessandro Fiocchetti

Alessandro Fiocchetti, Tenor, studied singing at the Giulio Briccialdi Institute,Terni, with Ambra Vespasiani, and then at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, Rome, where in 2021 he graduated with honours, under the mentorship of Amelia Felle. In 2014 he won the ex aequo prize at the Fausto Ricci International Opera Signing Competition in Viterbo; in 2022 he was a finalist at the RAI competition “Voci in Varaccia”. He made his début in 2009 as Paolino in The Secret Marriage by Cimarosa at the Bonci Theatre, Cesena. In 2018 he attended the début training course of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale A. Belli, Spoleto, singing Ramiro in Rossini's Cenerentola and Ke-ki-ka-ko in Ba-ta-clan by Offenbach. A year later he played Alfredo in Traviata at Teatro dell'Unione, Viterbo, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Teatro Gentile, Fabriano and at Teatro Ventidio Basso, Ascoli, Nemorino in Elisir d'amore for the “Europaincanto” project, and Mercury in The Judgement of Paris by Marcello Panni, directed by the author at the Palladium Theatre, Rome. In 2020 he sang Fe-ni-Han in Ba-ta-clan by Offenbach at Luglio Musicale Trapanese and Rodolfo in La Bohème in the film made for “Magia dell'Opera” by the Tito Gobbi Association. A year later he played Gerardo in Gianni Schicchi at Teatro delle Muse, Ancona. He featured as a soloist in the Liebesliederwalzer by Brahms, with Michele Campanella and Monica Leone in Osimo, Asolo, Monfalcone; he sang with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Marche and at the Muse, Ancona and Arena Gigli in Porto Recanati. He participated in the concert Elio in Beethoven's Vienna, with Elio e le Storie Tese, in Enna. In 2023 he sung Arlecchino in Pagliacci by R. Leoncavallo at the Traiano Theatre, Civitavecchia, Priest and Armoured Man in the production of the Magic Flute and at Teatro delle Muse, Ancona. He is currently furthering his education at l'Accademia d'Arte Lirica, Osimo.

Ferruccio Finetti

Born in Fabriano, his music studies first began at the “Pergolesi” school of music, Jesi. Immediately he began working for the opera season of the Pergolesi Theatre, Jesi (Italy), making his début in Gianni Schicchi, Rigoletto, La Boheme and La Traviata, and singing dozens of titles with important national choir institutions and with the prestigious London Symphony Chorus, London, in Fidelio, directed by Colin Davis. He participated in the making of the DVD Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage, G. Donizetti, for Bongiovanni and recorded Mozart's Requiem K626 at La Gran Guardi auditorium, Verona, which he also performed at the Santissima Annunziata, Florence, and the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven, Rome. He recorded the DVD of Mass in F-major by J. Poniatowsky, followed by a highly acclaimed performance at Westminster Cathedral Hall, London. In 2017 he began working with Teatro Lirico Sperimentale, Spoleto and was acclaimed for his role as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Don Magnifico in Rossini's Cenerentola, Dulcamara in Donizetti's Elisir d’amore, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto. In 2018/19 he played Ramfis and Dulcamara on the Italian tours of AIDA and L’Elisir d’amore by the association Europaincanto, Rome. He sang Rossini's Stabat Mater at Bagnoregio Cathedral (VT). He has worked as a choral artist withFondazione del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, L’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio, Turin, and Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome. Currently he is a supplementary singer of the Sistine Chapel Choir. He assists the conductor Riccardo Serenelli in musical preparation. He has participated in different masterclasses with the maestri Riccardo Serenelli, Renato Bruson, Edda Moser, Claudio Desderi, Enza Ferrari, Marina Comparato, Amelia Felle, Laura Brioli, Barbara Frittoli, Roberto de Candia, and Marco Boemi.