As part of the collateral events for the exhibition “Giulio Cesare and Francesco Bedeschini. Drawing and Invention in L’Aquila in the Seventeenth Century,” currently underway at MuNDA until March 3, a concert by the Anima&Corpo ensemble, conducted by violinist Gabriele Pro and featuring soprano Aloisia de Nardis, violinist Sara Meloni, and organist Nicola Procaccini, will take place on Friday, February 9, at 6:00 p.m., at the Oratory of Sant’Antonio de’ Cavalieri de Nardis (Via San Marciano). The program, “Così mi disprezzate. La musica al tempo di Bedeschini” (So You Despise Me. Music in the Time of Bedeschini), includes works by Frescobaldi, Colista, Mannelli, Rainaldi, and Landi, all composers active in Italy in the first half of the seventeenth century.
The event, promoted by the Società Aquilana dei Concerti “B. Barattelli,” the University of L’Aquila, and the Angelo de Nardis Association of Prata, will be introduced by institutional greetings from Professor Edoardo Alesse, Rector of the University of L’Aquila, and Dr. Federica Zalabra, Director of the National Museum of Abruzzo. Speakers will include Professors Michele Maccherini and Arnaldo Morelli, professors at the University of L’Aquila.
The Anima&Corpo ensemble was founded in 2015 with the aim of disseminating and rediscovering the musical treasures of vocal and instrumental music from the 17th to 18th centuries, focusing on less frequently performed repertoire and taking into account the artistic and cultural contexts in which the composers worked.
Historical Notes on the Oratory
The Oratory of Sant’Antonio dei Cavalieri de Nardis is a religious building built by and for the de Nardis family, beginning in 1646, by Ottavio de Nardis, Knight of Santo Stefano of Tuscany, along with other members of the noble family from L’Aquila. It appears to have been erected as an ex voto for the devotional aura that the painting of Saint Anthony of Padua, a fresco by Francesco Bedeschini and located as the main altarpiece, acquired.
The building was severely damaged in the 1703 earthquake. Numerous subsequent renovations and modifications were made, including the replacement of the vaulted ceiling with a wooden one by the cabinetmaker Ferdinando Mosca from Pescocostanzo, also responsible for the magnificent ceiling of San Bernardino, enriched by a painting by Vincenzo Damini depicting Saint Anthony of Padua receiving the Child Jesus from the Madonna.
Between the two entrance doors, a niche containing a life-size statue of Saint Anthony is the work of Como-born sculptor Ercole Ferrata. Among the notable works are the high altar frontal, composed of twenty-seven historiated Castelli majolica panels, and two altarpieces by Lorenzo Berrettini and Giacomo Farelli: The Flight into Egypt and The Immaculate Conception.
Inside is Luca Neri’s 1650 organ, proudly Italian with Dutch influences. When it was built, the city still had instruments by Balthasar Ruytsgheens, who came to L’Aquila with Madame Marguerite and specialized in the construction of these instruments. Luca Neri, from Leonessa, studied them to discover their secrets and peculiarities, which are reflected in the Oratory’s splendid organ, which has survived to this day in its entirety. A precious testimony and a point of reference for all performers specializing in historically informed performance practice, the “voice” of Luca Neri is a faithful expression of the era.
The Oratory was restored following the 2009 earthquake.
