Il Pomo d'Oro

Based in Zurich, but with an international membership and reach, the historical-performance ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro specializes in Baroque opera and instrumental music. It has devoted many concerts and recordings to the immensely important, but still underexplored, repertory from 18th century Naples, the eighth-largest city in the world in 1750. Il Pomo d'Oro takes its name from that of a 1666 opera by Antonio Cesti, a ten-hour work composed for the wedding of Leopold I of Austria and Margarita Teresa of Spain, and calling for 73,000 rocket fireworks and a horse ballet of 300 ...