NICOLA VALENTINI
Nicola Valentini is an Italian conductor and founder of the ensemble ‘Dolce Concento’. Critics and audiences have brought him to international attention as an expert connoisseur of the Baroque and Classical musical language, recently recognising “a new and captivating impetus” that distinguishes his interpretations of the Belcanto and Romantic repertoire. Additionally, he has constantly dedicated to the activity as a transcriber and reviser of published and unpublished operas, oratorios, symphonies, concerts, arias, and overturers for various international entities including Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatre Metropole in Lausanne, Associazione “De sono” in Turin, Ut-Orpheus.
His sparking interest in Baroque performance practice yet at an early age, led him to the important collaboration with Maestro Ottavio Dantone, which was to mark his training path and further developments strikingly.
After his classical studies, he graduated in cello at the Conservatory of Parma, under the guidance of E. Contini, and at the same time, he studied composition with F. Agostinelli, and conducting with G. Serembe in Parma, Pescara and Faenza. In addition, he devoted himself to constant in-depth study of the interpretation of the vocal and instrumental repertoire of the 17th/18th century under the guidance of Ottavio Dantone, studing well-known and unpublished scores, supporting him in concerts, recordings, oratorios and above all, opera.
As associate conductor he took part in significant productions at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Ferrara, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Metropole in Lausanne, Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Palau de Les Arts in Valencia, Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo and at the prestigious Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals.
He made his successful debut in December 2010 and subsequently gave concerts all over Europe as a conductor and a concert cellist, conducting various ensembles with modern and period instruments, including Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opera Orchestre National Montpellier, I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, Orchestra Filarmonica di Brno, Orchestra La Toscanini di Parma, Orchestra Sinfonica Principato de Asturia di Oviedo, Virtuosi Brunenses, Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini di Pesaro, Filharmonie di Brno.
The Staatstheater Oper in Nuremberg invited him to debut as an opera conductor with C.W.Gluck’s Ezio in July 2012 and he subsequently conducted G.Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola at the Campoamor theatres in Oviedo, Jovellanos in Gijòn and at the Gayarre in Pamplona, L’isola disabitata by Haydn in Ravenna. In 2013, he collaborated for the first time with the Accademia di Bel Canto di Modena, led by great soprano Mirella Freni, and in the years 2014-2015, he served there as music director.
In 2014, he founded ‘Dolce Concento’, an ensemble using period instruments aimed at performing not only baroque repertoire but also classical and romantic repertoire. In 2017, leading his Dolce Concento, he debuted at the “Claudio Abbado” Theatre in Ferrara with Gluck’s opera “Alceste”, achieving great success, which he repeated the following year with the staging of “Esther”, G.F. Handel’s first English oratorio.
In 2017-18 he was associate conductor of the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional orchestra.
At Theater Basel in Switzerland he conducted his first Puccini opera, ‘Madama Butterfly’, in a new production.
Upcoming projects include a Mozart concert tour with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, a tour with Haydn Orchestra as well as a scenic production of “Il trionfo della divina giustizia” by A. Porpora in Italy.
As a teacher and a speaker he gives numerous courses and lectures on music history and interpretation.
DOLCE CONCENTO ENSEMBLE
The Dol
ce Concento Ensemble was created out of the artistic collaboration of Nicola Valentini (conductor) with Andrea Vassalle (violinist), two musicians who decided to share their academic experience to develop a project aiming at rediscovering new sounds in classical and Romantic vocal music played using period instruments. Following the route started by their teachers, among whom are Ottavio Dantone, Federico Guglielmo and Alessandro Moccia, the work on operas, oratories and cantatas is carried out showing great respect for early music codices without renouncing a modern reading with the specific purpose of involving contemporary audiences. The repertoire of the Ensemble ranges from the Baroque period of Italian Schools, which made opera famous in Europe, to Gluck, Mozart, Bellini and Donizzetti.
After its debut in 2015 at the Ravenna Festival, Dolce Concento has performed in numerous Italian cities including Milan, Modena, Ferrara, Turin and San Marino, and they immediately enjoyed greater and greater favour from the audience and critics as one of the best Italian emerging groups.
In March 2017, still under Nicola Valentini’s conducting, the ensemble conceived and staged Alceste by C.W. Gluck at the Teatro Comunale “Claudio Abbado” in Ferrara for the celebration of the 250th anniversary from its first performance in Italy.
In October 2021, Dolce Concento opened the prestigious opera season at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, with a new production of Haydn’s Uninhabited Island, for which they obtained great success with the audience and critics.
Besides concerts, the Ensemble is committed to teaching. From school year 2015-2016, several concert-lessons for children and adults have been organized with the aim to spread guided listening to live music.
