The manuscript sources used for Arca de Musica Vols. 1 and 2, allow us to discover a new world: that of the varied instrumental performance practices in New Spain, which show to have been diverse and dynamic, reflecting the 18th century Mexican society. La Fontegara's interpretation of this music aims to recreate these practices through combining the research of original sources with understanding how music could have sounded in the houses, theaters and palaces of 18 c. Mexico, with creativity and imagination.
The first volume is devoted to manuscripts of the 1730-1760 period. The music comes from the Codex Saldivar 4, c. 1732, by guitarist Santiago de Murcia, found in León, Guanajuato, Mexico; the undated notebook with lecciones (solfeggi) by Neapolitan Leonardo Leo and an Anonymous sonata identified with Franco-Flemish composer Antoine Mahaut, both from the Cathedral of Mexico, and the collection XII Sonatas A Solo Flavta e Basso di Pietro Locatelli &... (Mexico, 1759) of sonatas and dances for traverso and continuo kept at the library of the Museo Nacional de Antropología.
LA FONTEGARA is one of Mexico’s leading ensembles dedicated to the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music on replicas of original instruments.
The ensemble was formed in 1988 after individual studies in Mexico, Chicago, Boston and The Hague. They have performed extensively in Mexico as well as in Spain, Germany, Central and South America, and in numerous festivals and concert series throughout the United States.
They recorded Sonatas Novohispanas I and II, the interactive CD Resonancia for Urtext Digital Classics, and the CD Godfather for Meridian. Members of La Fontegara are professors at the Facultad de Música of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
