I Mastricelli

I Mastricelli is an early music ensemble founded in 2023 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. The name recalls the “mastricelli,” the talented young musicians who assisted the prominent maestri of the first Neapolitan conservatories — figures such as Domenico Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Leo, and Francesco Durante, whose legacy still resonates in today’s musical world.
True to this heritage, the ensemble places improvisation, arrangement, and composition at the center of its practice, seeking to revive the creative spirit that animated the Neapolitan schools. Bringing together the cello, the viola da gamba, and other bass instruments of both the violin and viol families, the group explores the expressive depth and resonance of the bass register — the very foundation of Baroque sound.
Their work combines scholarly research with a living engagement in tradition: from the folkloristic sounds on the streets of Naples, to the earliest repertoire written for their instruments, to the refined dialogue between Naples and Paris during the 17th and 18th centuries. This meeting of cultures — earthy and noble, popular and courtly — shapes the ensemble’s vision of a music that is both historically grounded and vibrantly alive.
I Mastricelli has performed at the Académie Gli Incogniti, the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, in Spain (Sevilla, Estella), and in the Netherlands (Amare, Paleiskerk). With this debut recording, they continue their research journey into the sound world of Naples at the turn of the 18th century, celebrating great maestri of the Neapolitan Baroque and the depth and richness of the bass instruments that form the foundation of this repertoire.