catalogue: FROBERGER – MEMENTO MORI?
Ever since the beginning of the nineties, the harpsichordist and organist Francesco Cera has been admired internationally as a performer of the Italian Baroque repertoire, through intense activity in concerts and masterclasses in Europe and the United States.His recordings of works by Frescobaldi, Scarlatti and other Italian composers are considered a point of reference for their intense expressivity, always combined with elegance and clarity of interpretation. Recently his complete recording of J.S.Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier received considerable critical acclaim.
In addition to performing extensively with the Giardino Armonico and the Barocchisti, Francesco Cera has directed his Ensemble Arte Musica in highly praised performances of works of Gesualdo, Monteverdi, D’India, Stradella, Pergolesi etc. A student of Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini and Gustav Leonhardt, Cera received his diploma from the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1991.
Francesco Cera has performed both solo recitals and as the director of Ensemble Arte Musica, in such venues as the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Festival of Flanders, Resonanzen in Vienna, Philarmonie Köln, Festival in Maguelone, Musica e poesia in San Maurizio in Milan, Bologna Festival, Ferrara Musica, in Concert halls in Lugano, Madrid, Tbilisi, and on historical organs throughout Europe and Scandinavia.
Francesco Cera has held master classes in Europe and the United States, and holds the chair of harpsichord professor at the Conservatorio “E.R. Duni” in Matera.