I Musicisti Dell'imperatore - Music from the Reign

I Musicisti dell'imperatore present composers who were connected to the Habsburgs and Emperor Charles VI in the most varied ways. There is Giovanni Antonio Piani, almost unknown today and the best-paid musician of the Imperial Court Orchestra, and Antonio Caldara, Charles XI's favorite composer - both of him lived and worked in Vienna. Other music directors in the service of the Habsburgs were Alessandro Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi, in Naples and Mantua respectively. Founded in 2011, the young G.A.P. Ensemble consists of superb musicians who occupy leading positions in the most important European baroque orchestras. Since 2013 the ensemble has worked very closely with Italian Soprano Raffaella Milanesi, heard here. The name G.A.P. is a tribute to the ensembles connection with the aforementioned Italian composer Giovanni Antonio Piani, whose sonatas op. 1 were rediscovered by Emilio Percan and brought back to audiences in a world premiere recording.