La musica di Carlo Ambrogio Lonati alla corte di Francesco II d’Este
Letters from the Raccolta Stefani in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia
Abstract
A multifaceted and in some ways still mysterious character, Carlo Ambrogio Lonati (ca. 1645 - post 1701) came into contact with the Este court in Modena between late 1685 and early 1686. He then remained in close contact with the Modena milieu, composing the drama for music I due germani rivali, with which the Fontanelli Theater was reopened the following autumn. Although the information currently available does not allow for a precise reconstruction of Lonati's stay in Modena, the study of the Este music collection testifies to the sedimentation of his works in the ducal collection and shows that the composer had a way of affecting the musical life of the court. In this article, some hypotheses are put forward about the acquisition of Lonati's music in Modena, while proposing a review of the attributional problems of his violin compositions through the study of the manuscripts and the archival context to which they belong, with the aim of highlighting the interrelationships present among the different sources and offering a comprehensive and up-to-date picture.
