The ensemble il pomo d’oro was founded in 2012. It is characterized by an authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical period. The musicians are all well-known specialists and are among the best in the field of historical performance practice. The ensemble so far worked with the conductors Riccardo Minasi, Maxim Emelyanychev, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou, Enrico Onofri and Francesco Corti. Concert master Zefira Valova leads the orchestra in various projects. Since 2016 Maxim Emelyanychev has been its chief conductor, and since 2019 Francesco Corti is principal guest conductor.
Il pomo d’oro is a regular guest in prestigious concert halls and festivals all over Europe. After the worldwide success of the program «In War and Peace» with Joyce DiDonato, in 2020 il pomo d’oro and Maxim Emelyanychev presented My favorite things with the and is now on tour worldwide with Eden, the latest program and album of il pomo d’oro, Maxim Emelyanychev and the American Mezzosoprano.
The discography of il pomo d’oro includes several opera recordings: G. F. Händel’s Agrippina, Serse, Tamerlano, Partenope and Ottone, Leonardo Vinci’ s Catone in Utica, and Alessandro Stradella’s La Doriclea. It features Recitals with the countertenors Jakub Józef Orliński, Franco Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cencic, and Xavier Sabata, with mezzosopranos Ann Hallenberg and Joyce DiDonato and with sopranos Lisette Oropesa, Emöke Barath and Francesca Aspromonte. Among the instrumental albums the recordings of Haydn’s violin and harpsichord concertos as well as a cello album with Edgar Moreau received ‘Echo Klassik’ Awards in 2016. Further instrumental recordings are dedicated to the violin concertos and the harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach, with Shunske Sato and Francesco Corti as soloists, and to virtuoso violin concertos with Dmitry Sinkonvsky.
In 2021 new albums with Bach harpsichord concertos vol.2 with Francesco Corti, Ombra Compagna with Lisette Oropesa (Mozart concert arias) and Jakub Józef Orliński (Anima Aeterna) were released. In 2022 seven albums have been published: Handel’s Apollo e Dafne with Kathryn Lewek (Soprano) and John Chest (Bass), Mandolin on stage with Raffaele La Ragione (Mandolin), the new recital with Joyce DiDonato, Eden, Bach Harpsichord Concertos vol III with Francesco Corti, Violin Concertos by Benda, Graun, Saint-Georges and Sirmen with Zefira Valova as soloist, Roma Travestita with Soprano Bruno de Sá, and Handel’s oratorio Theodora with a stellar cast (Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Michael Spyres, John Chest) – also introducing the new vocal ensemble of il pomo d‘oro.
In 2022 il pomo d’oro started a long-term recording project of Mozart-Symphonies and selected solo-concerts with Maxim Emelyanychev conducting.
The albums Anima Sacra with Jakub Józef Orliński, and Voglio Cantar with soprano Emöke Barath received the prestigious Opus-Klassik award, and the recording of G.F. Händel’s Serse, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, was awarded the Italian ‘Abbiato del Disco’. In 2018, the recording of Alessandro Stradella’s opera La Doriclea, conducted by Andrea di Carlo, recieved the German ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’. Virtuosissimo with Dmitry Sinkovsky, released in 2019, received a ‘Diapason d’Or’. In 2022, Eden with Joyced DiDonato received a ‘Choc’ from Classica and an ‘Opus Klassik’.
Il pomo d’oro is official ambassador of El Sistema Greece, a humanitarian project to provide free musical education to children in Greek refugee camps. Il pomo d’oro plays charity concerts and offers workshops and music lessons according to the El Sistema method on a frequent regular basis in various refugee camps in Greece.
The name of the ensemble il pomo d’oro refers to Antonio Cesti’s opera from the year 1666. Composed to the wedding celebrations of Emperor Leopold I and Margarita Teresa of Spain, Il Pomo d’Oro was probably one of the largest, most expensive and most spectacular opera productions in the still young history of the genre. 24 different stage designs, a horse-ballet of 300 horses, a fireworks display of 73,000 rockets, numerous ‚special effects’- superlatives, which should make the Emperor’s court the highlight of cultural splendor in Europe.