Rocco & Gaetano Greco; Francesco Mancini - Works for violoncello, bass violin & keyboard (I Mastricelli)

Information

1. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia viggesima terza a due viole: I. Grave - Allegro - Corrente
2. Gaetano Greco - Toccata settima for Harpsichord
3. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia settima a due viole: I. Allegro
4. Gaetano Greco - Passagaglio for Archlute
5. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia viggesima quarta a due viole: - [Corrente]
6. Gaetano Greco - Partimento for Harpsichord
7. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia decima sesta a due viole: I. Largo - Presto - Corrente
8. Gaetano Greco - Tarantella
9. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia viggesima seconda a due viole: - [Corrente]
10. Francesco Mancini - Toccata sesta (partimento)
11. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia terza a due viole: I. Grave - Allegro - Corrente
12. Anonymous - Balletto Francese for Harpsichord
13. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia decima ottava a due viole: - [Corrente]
14. Gaetano Greco - Sinfonia
15. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia quarta a due viole: I. Allegro - Balletto - Corrente
16. Gaetano Greco - Partimento for Archlute
17. Rocco Greco - Sinfonia quinta a due viole: (La prima viola suona li numeri) – I. Allegro
18. Anonymous - Ballo della torcia

I Mastricelli

    Antonio Pellegrino, cello & bass violin

    Agata Sorotokin, harpsichord

    Asako Ueda, theorbo, archlute & guitar

    Marino González, García viola da gamba

    Alon Portal, bass violin

    Caroline Kang, bass violin

Date: 2026

Label: Challenge Classics

_____________________

This recording explores the vibrant musical culture of late seventeenth-century Naples through the works of brothers Rocco (ca. 1650–1717) and Gaetano (ca. 1657–1728) Greco, key figures in the city’s flourishing scene. Rooted in the partimento tradition—an improvisatory practice based on a written bass line—the programme highlights the cello’s emergence as an expressive solo instrument rather than a purely supportive voice. I Mastricelli brings renewed vitality to this overlooked repertoire, revealing the interplay of virtuosity, counterpoint, and improvisation that shaped the Neapolitan cello school and influenced European music more broadly. The album also examines Gaetano Greco’s pedagogical legacy, blending scholarly insight with historically informed performance.

I Mastricelli is an early music ensemble founded in 2023 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Inspired by the “mastricelli,” gifted assistants to the great masters of the Neapolitan conservatories, the group embraces improvisation, arrangement, and composition as central elements of its artistic identity. Bringing together cello, viola da gamba, and other bass instruments from the violin and viol families, the ensemble explores the expressive richness of the Baroque bass register. Combining scholarly research with vibrant performance, I Mastricelli engages with Neapolitan folk traditions, early instrumental repertory, and Franco-Italian exchanges. The ensemble has performed internationally and continues to investigate Naples’ late Baroque sound world.

High Resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz