Francesco Cera (born in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian harpsichordist, organist and conductor. Accomplished performer of Italian Baroque harpsichord and organ repertoire, he was a student of

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Le ...

in Amsterdam (1989–90), then in 1991 became member of the ensemble

Il Giardino Armonico Il Giardino Armonico ("The Garden of Harmony") is an Italian ensemble well noted for its practice of Historically Informed Performance and founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century mu ...

. Since 1997 he has been director of the Ensemble Arte Musica, specializing in Italian vocal repertoire from Gesualdo and

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is conside ...

to 18th-century cantatas. Cera has held master classes at the Smarano Organ Academy and the Piccola Accademia Montisi.''Instruments à claviers: expressivité et flexibilité sonore'', by Thomas Steiner (Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft / Publications de la Société suisse de musicologie 44), Bern: Peter Lang, 2004 , page 33: "Der musikalische Teil wurde von Francesco Cera, Sally Fortino, Lorenzo Ghielmi und Harold Lester mit Kompositionen aus dem Umkreis der Instrumente bestritten."

Discography

Cera has made many recordings of Italian harpsichord music ( Rossi, Merula, Storace, Valente and

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the devel ...

) for Tactus (record label),

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

's ''

French Suites The ''French Suites'', BWV 812–817, are six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725.Bach. ''The French Suites: Embellished version''. Bärenreiter Urtext Altho ...

'' and harpsichord concertos for the Arts label, Bach's ''

Orgelbüchlein The ''Orgelbüchlein'' (''Little Organ Book'') BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as ...

'', D'Anglebert's complete harpsichord works, Trabaci's organ and harpsichord works, ''Scarlatti and the Neapolitan Song'' for label

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also ...

. His ensemble Arte Musica made their concert debut at the Flanders Festival in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

in 1997, and their first recording of sacred music by

Giovanni Paolo Colonna Giovanni Paolo Colonna (16 June 1637 – 28 November 1695) was an Italian composer, teacher, organist and organ builder. In addition to being chapel-master and organist of San Petronio Basilica in Bologna, he served prominent members of the cour ...

; they recorded Gesualdo's ''Tenebrae Responsoria'' for label Brilliant Classics. In 2001, he recorded Saint-Saëns’s ''Requiem,'' conducted by

Diego Fasolis Diego Fasolis (born 19 April 1958) is a Swiss classical organist and conductor, the leader of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted operas in historically informed performance at major European opera houses and festivals, and has made award- ...

for Chandos (2004).

References

External links

His website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cera, Francesco Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Italian harpsichordists Musicians from Bologna