Il Pomo d’Oro

Il Pomo d’Oro was founded in 2012 and is acclaimed for its authentic, dynamic interpretation of operas and instrumental works from the Baroque and Classical periods. Each member is a well-known specialist in the field of historical performance practice. The ensemble has worked with the conductors including Riccardo Minasi, Maxim Emelyanychev, Stefano Montanari, George Petrou, Enrico Onofri, and Francesco Corti; concert master Zefira Valova also leads the orchestra in various projects. Since 2016, Maxim Emelyanychev has been its chief conductor, and since 2019, Francesco Corti has been 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, the same artists reunited for My Favorite Things in 2020 and Eden in 2022–23; the latter was also presented by Cal Performances here at Zellerbach Hall.

Il Pomo D’Oro’s discography includes operas by Handel, Vinci, and Stradella and recitals with countertenors Jakub Józef Orliński, Franco Fagioli, Max Emanuel Cencic, and Xavier Sabata; mezzo-sopranos Ann Hallenberg and Joyce DiDonato; and sopranos Lisette Oropesa, Emöke Barath, and Francesca Aspromonte. Instrumental albums include Haydn violin and harpsichord concertos; a cello album with Edgar Moreau (Echo Klassik Award 2016); violin concertos and the harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach, with Shunske Sato and Francesco Corti as soloists; and virtuoso violin concertos with Dmitry Sinkonvsky.

In 2022, Il Pomo d’Oro launched a long-term recording project of Mozart symphonies and selected solo concerts with Maxim Emelyanychev conducting. The first volume, The Beginning and the End, was released with Aparté in early 2023, featuring Mozart’s first and last symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 23, with Emelyanychev as soloist.

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. Handel’s Serse, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, received 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 Joyce DiDonato received a Choc–Classica and an Echo Opus Klassik Award.

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. The group plays charity concerts and offers workshops and music lessons according to the El Sistema method on a frequent regular basis in various refugee camps throughout Greece.

The name of the ensemble refers to Antonio Cesti’s opera from the year 1666. Composed for 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, featuring 24 different stage designs, a horse-ballet of 300 horses, a fireworks display of 73,000 rockets, numerous special effects, all of which would have made the Emperor’s court the highlight of cultural splendor in all of Europe.