Mare Nostrum Ensemble, MNE, conducted by Andrea De Carlo, focuses on baroque music and in particular on the compositions by Alessando Stradella.
Founded in 2005, Mare Nostrum Ensemble started as the “Consort of Viols” but the ensemble opened up soon to a wider repertoire to explore the relationship between language, musical affetti and the nature of sounds. Andrea De Carlo’s personal research in this field explored new perspectives in the technique and aesthetics of 17th century vocal music.
Starting from the music of the “Consort of Viols” and the interpretation of works for organ and harpsichord – a common practice in the 16th and 17th centuries – the Mare Nostrum Ensemble has managed to realize several projects, including: an original orchestration of the ORGELBUCHLEIN by J. S. Bach for MA Recordings (USA) which received international critical acclaim and the Diapason “Decouverte” in the French magazine Diapason (May 2011) and a CD dedicated to French polyphony LE CONCERT DES VIOLES for the label RICERCAR (OUTHERE), awarded with 5 Diapason (January 2010) and the “Coup de coeur” 2010 of the Charles Cros Academy in Paris.
In 2012 the CD NUEVA ESPANA, a journey through Spanish and Mexican music, from the Renaissance to modern times, was released for the ALPHA (OUTHERE) label.
In 2012 EMN started to dedicate himself to Roman music with the CD “IL CONCERTO DELLE VIOLE BARBERINI” together with the Ensemble Vox Luminis for the RICERCAR (OUTHERE) label, followed by a CD of unknown Roman cantatas by Marco Marazzoli for ARCANA (OUTHERE) label “OCCHI BELLI, OCCHI NERI”.
2013 saw the birth of the Stradella Project, a CD collection for ARCANA (OUTHERE), dedicated to the works writte by that important composer, recorded as part of the Alessandro Stradella International Festival in Nepi (Italy), the birthplace of the Stradella family.
Its first release, a world premiere recording, is the Serenade of Alessandro Stradella’s “LA FORZA DELLE STELLE” (5 Diapason), followed by the world premiere recording of the oratorio S. GIOVANNI CRISOSTOMO (5 Diapason) 2014, the world premiere recording of the oratorio S. EDITTA, VERGINE E MONACA, REGINA D’INGHILITERRA in 2016 (5 Diapason), the oratorio S. PELAGIA in 2017 (5 Diapason) and the very first opera by Stradella, LA DORICLEA with the ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro In 2018 (5 Diapason) and Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 1.2020 for OPERA.
In 2020 the Ensemble released IL TRESPOLO TUTORE (Diapason Découverte), Longlist Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2021, and in 2021 the new and unknown opera by Stradella, AMARE E FINGERE, Longlist Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2022.
Ensemble Mare Nostrum has performed at major international festivals, such as TAGE ALTER MUSIK HERNE (Germany), DE BIJLOKE, Gent (Belgium), Festival Internacional de Ubeda y Baeza (Spain), MAISON DE RADIO FRANCE, Paris (France), Festival Internacional de Musica Sacra in Quito (Ecuador), Academie Bach Arques-la-Bataille (France), Festival de Saint Michel en Tierrache, (France), Festival de Sablé (France), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), FONTDOUCE Festival (France), Festival Concertes d’été in Saint Germain (Switzerland), Festival LES NUITES BAROQUES in Le Touquet (France), Festival IZMIR (Turkey), I Concerti del Quirinale (Italy), Festival Noites de Queluz (Portugal), Stockholm Early Music festival (Sweden), Festival Zamek Krolekski Warsaw (Poland).
In December 2021, EMN collaborated with Teatro Carlo Felice of Genova Orchestra to perform the oratorio S. G. Battista by A. Stradella.
Coming soon are Il Teatro del Mondo, a monographic programme on the figure of castrato Marcantonio Orrigoni, the protagonist of Stradella’s last Genoese operas, the oratorio Ester, liberatrice del popolo ebreo and the two versions of the operetta La Circe, composed by a very young Stradella.
