This programme is not a reconstruction of a liturgical service, but a logical sequence of responsories (= sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group singing verses while the whole choir or congregation respond with a refrain) which where all composed by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) for the Holy Saturday, the day/night before Easter. They all recall the profound religious spirit of Easter.

The responsories on the album alternate with motets, meditational organ and orchestral music by the same composer.

The music was discovered in the library of the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica and transcribed by the chorus’ director, Sergio Balestracci.

Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer, especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other famous composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.

La Stagione Armonica (Sergio Balestracci Chorus Master), has been founded in 1991 by the madrigalists of the Centro di Musica Antica of Padova. Its Artistic director and coach Sergio Balestracci has a long experience as musicologist as well as conductor and teacher in the field of the renaissance and baroque music.

The Italian group, which makes use of the cooperation of soloist singers and instrumentalists among the most known specialists of the baroque repertoire, has worked with musicians such as Nigel Rogers, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Andrea Marcon, or Ottavio Dantone. Since 2009 it cooperates with conductor Riccardo Muti and has performed at Salzburger Festspiele and at the Ravenna Festival.

La Stagione Armonica has collaborated with several orchestras and instrumental groups, among them: HesperionXX, Accademia Bizantina, Orchestra Barocca di Venezia or Il Giardino Armonico.

The ensemble has been invited to the most important festivals in Italy and abroad, working with many international institutions and associations. La Stagione Armonica has recorded for RAI, for many European radio and television broadcasts as well as for several international Labels.

Among the most important productions are Bach’s B minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio and Johannes-Passion; Händel’s Dettingen Te Deum and Messiah; the Missa Solemnis and the oratorio Christus am Ölberge by Beethoven.