Marcello Vitale (born in 1969 in

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) is a performer and recording artist on the

chitarra battente The chitarra battente (in Italian "strumming guitar", however "battente" literally means "beating" related to the fact that this guitar thumps the rhythm of the music) is a musical instrument, a chordophone of the guitar family. It is similar to ...

and

baroque guitar The Baroque guitar (–1750) is a string instrument with five Course (music), courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course sometimes used only a single string. History The Baroque guitar replaced the lute as ...

, as well as a composer and a teacher of these instruments.

Biography

In 1997 he performed as a soloist in ''Lezioni di tarantella'', an event organised by

Eugenio Bennato Eugenio Bennato (born 16 March 1948) is an Italian folk musician and songwriter. He is the brother of the musician Edoardo Bennato. Biography In 1969, he cofounded the folk band ''Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare'', discovered by the author Ed ...

, held in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

at Città della Scienza. On that occasion he joined the group Musicanova. In 1999, together with Lilli Greco and Paolo Raffone, composes and performs the soundtrack of the film '' Ferdinando e Carolina'' by the Director Lina Wertmuller, earning the ''European Prize

Massimo Troisi Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, comedian, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his works in the films '' I'm Starting back from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The ...

'' to the music. In the same year he was elected an honorary member of the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

Academy of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

for his works in the

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. In 2001, together with drummer Franco Del Prete, writes the song ''Pioverà'', performed at the Sanremo Festival in the same year by

Peppino Di Capri Giuseppe Faiella (born 27 July 1939), professionally known as Peppino di Capri ("Peppino" is a diminutive of "Giuseppe" and "di Capri" means "of Capri"), is an Italian popular music singer, songwriter and pianist, successful in Italy and Europe. ...

. In 2005 is called by

Roberto De Simone Roberto De Simone (; 25 August 1933 – 6 April 2025) was an Italian stage director, academic teacher, playwright, composer and ethnomusicologist. Beginning as a harpsichordist, he turned to research of early Italian music and co-founded the Nuo ...

to play the

in his work, '' Il Socrate immaginario'' by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

(Director and musical review by R. De Simone) represented in the month of September to

San Carlo Theatre The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ad ...

. Since 2001 collaborates with the ensemble ''

L'Arpeggiata L'Arpeggiata is a European early music group led by Christina Pluhar, and founded by her in 2000. The group has presented both traditional early music and also several collaged and themed performances and recordings. The group focuses on Italian ...

'' directed by

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

, one for

Naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

and three for

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and performed in the most important concert halls around the world such as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the

Barbican Center The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London, the

Salle Gaveau The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music. Construction The plans for t ...

in Paris.

Discography

* 1990 – ''Magicorò'' (with Musicalia) * 1997 – ''Le tarantelle del Gargano'' (with

Pino De Vittorio Pino or Piño may refer to: People Surname * Danny Pino (born 1974), American actor * Domenico Pino (1760–1826), Italian general of the Napoleonic Wars * Fernando Solanas (1936–2020), aka "Pino" Solanas, Argentine filmmaker * Frank J. Pino ...

) * 1998 – ''Pape Kanoute'' (with Pape Kanoute) * 1998 – '' Taranta Power'' (with

) * 1998 – ''Lezioni di tarantella'' (with

) * 2001 – '' Che il mediterraneo sia'' (with

) * 2001 – ''Intrasatta'' (with ASSURD) * 2002 – ''La

tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...

'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Chitarra battente The chitarra battente (in Italian "strumming guitar", however "battente" literally means "beating" related to the fact that this guitar thumps the rhythm of the music) is a musical instrument, a chordophone of the guitar family. It is similar to ...

'' * 2003 – ''Napoli mediterranea'' (with

Pietra Montecorvino Pietra Montecorvino (born 2 December 1962 in Naples) is an Italian singer and actress. Her real name is Barbara D'Alessandro and her pseudonym is a play on the name of the small town of Pietramontecorvino near Foggia in south-east Italy. She and ...

) * 2004 – ''All'improvviso'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Daniele Sepe Daniele Sepe (born 17 April 1960 in Naples) is an Italian musician, known internationally for interpreting protest songs from around the world. His first instrument was the flute, which he played at the San Pietro a Majella College or university ...

) * 2005 – ''Le tarantelle del rimorso'' (with

) * 2005 – ''AltoCalore'' * 2006 – ''Los impossibles'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.L'Arpeggiata L'Arpeggiata is a European early music group led by Christina Pluhar, and founded by her in 2000. The group has presented both traditional early music and also several collaged and themed performances and recordings. The group focuses on Italian ...

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Via Crucis The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Mediterraneo ''Mediterraneo'' is a 1991 Italian war comedy-drama film directed by Gabriele Salvatores and written by Enzo Monteleone. The film is set during World War II and concerns a group of Italian soldiers who become stranded on an island of the Itali ...

'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Music for a while "Music for a While" is a da capo aria for voice (usually soprano or tenor), harpsichord and bass viol by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell. Based on a repeating ground bass pattern, it is the second of four Movement (musi ...

'' (with

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble ''L'Arpeggiata''.Marcello Vitale
Italian lutenists Italian performers of early music People from Benevento 1969 births Living people {{Italy-musician-stub