Draft:Flavio Ferri-Benedetti

Flavio Ferri-Benedetti (born 24th March 1983) is an Italian singer (Countertenor), singing teacher, translator, philologist and composer.

Biography
Ferri-Benedetti's grandfather, Silvano Proietti (1900–1962), was an operatic tenor. In 1927 he changed his name to Silvano Benedetti.

Flavio (complete first name: Flavio Vincenzo Domenico) Ferri-Benedetti was born in Scandiano, Italy. The family moved to Spain when he was eleven years old. He obtained an MA in Translation Studies from the Jaume I University in Castellón de la Plana in 2005 and graduated with honors in piano from the Vila-real Conservatory in 2004. In 2014 he received his PhD in Literature “cum laude” from the Universitat de València (Faculty of Philology) with a dissertation on the Classical Tradition in Metastasio.

At the age of 17 he made his debut as a countertenor in Mozart's Vesperae solennes de Confessore (December 2000, Castellón, Spain). It was only at the age of 19 that he received his first singing lessons. In 2006 he was awarded the "Premio Velluti" as a countertenor in Corridonia (Italy), a prize for young countertenor artists named after the castrati Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861). In 2009 he was nominated for the title of Young Artist of the Year in Opernwelt magazine's critics' poll for his role in Scarlatti's Penelope la Casta and won third prize at the International Competition for Sacred Music in Rome. In 2010 he was again nominated in the Opernwelt yearbook as "Young Artist of the Year".

In 2008 he received his BA in Historical Singing studying with Prof. Gerd Türk at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. In 2010 he completed his master's degree in Historical Singing with distinction. He has taken part in master classes given by Nancy Argenta, David Thomas, Ian Partridge, Andreas Scholl, Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooley, among others. His voice coach has been mezzo-soprano Lina Maria Åkerlund since 2010.

Since 2012 he has been a guest lecturer in the "Italian for Singers" workshops at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) and in spring 2015 he was a singing teacher at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)

Since 2018 he is a lecturer for "Historical Singing" at the ZHdK and since 2023 also for Italian Diction.

Since 2019 he is a Coach of Singing and Italian Diction at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

Singing
Flavio Ferri-Benedetti is vocally specialized in baroque operas, especially in the Italian style, sacred music and song.

He regularly works with various Baroque music ensembles.

His opera appearances (stage or concert, incl. Oratorio scenic) include among others:


 * 2007 Theater Scala (Basel) as Proteo in Il Barcheggio by Alessandro Stradella
 * 2008 Ekhof-Theater (Gotha) as Madama Garbata in Arcifanfano Re dei Matti by Baldassarre Galuppi
 * 2009 Wettsteinsaal (Basel) as Lutezio in Penelope la Casta by Alessandro Scarlatti, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
 * 2010 Theater Basel as Linfea in La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli
 * 2011 Prinzregententheater Munich as Enea in Didone abbandonata by Johann Adolph Hasse
 * 2011 Oper Frankfurt as Linfea in La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli
 * 2012 Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles as Enea in Didone abbandonata by Johann Adolph Hasse
 * 2012 Opéra de Nice as Tigrane in Tigrane by Alessandro Scarlatti
 * 2012 Auditorio Príncipe Felipe de Oviedo as Sorceress and Spirit in Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell
 * 2012 Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Liederhalle Stuttgart as Licori in La Tisbe by Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello
 * 2012 Ópera de Oviedo as Narciso in Agrippina by George Frideric Handel
 * 2013 Bayer Kulturhaus Leverkusen as Publio in La clemenza di Tito by Christoph Willibald Gluck
 * 2014 Wigmore Hall as Learco in Issipile by Francesco Bartolomeo Conti
 * 2014 Teatro Principal de Castellón as the Third Lady in The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * 2015 Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Händel Festival) as Egeo in Teseo by Georg Friedrich Handel
 * 2015 Konzerthaus Dortmund as Creonte in Niobe by Agostino Steffani
 * 2015 Theater an der Wien as Publio in La clemenza di Tito by Christoph Willibald Gluck
 * 2015 Konzerthaus Ravensburg as Orlando in Orlando by Georg Friedrich Handel
 * 2015 Theater Freiburg as Orlando in Orlando by Georg Friedrich Handel
 * 2016 Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Händel Festival) as Egeo in Teseo by Georg Friedrich Handel
 * 2017 Styriarte (Schielleiten Castle – Styria) as Hercules in La Margarita (Pasticcio) by Francesco Cavalli, Alessandro Stradella...
 * 2019 Theater Rigiblick Zurich as Apollo in Terpsicore (prologue to Il pastor fido) by Georg Friedrich Handel
 * 2019 Boston Early Music Festival as Galafro in Orlando generoso by Agostino Steffani
 * 2022 Theater Lindau and Kornhaus Ulm as Cain in Il primo omicidio by Alessandro Scarlatti
 * 2022 Caronantica as San Giovanni Battista in San Giovanni Battista by Alessandro Stradella

Since 2000 he has given performances of sacred works and oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Heinrich Schütz etc.

Academic Work
Ferri-Benedetti is a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts since 2018 (Historical Singing and Italian Diction) and since 2019 at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Coach for Singing and Italian Diction). He has been teaching masterclasses since 2011.

He is involved in the translation and proofreading of musical texts and music scores in the field of Early Music and publishes scientific articles and translations in the fields of literature and musicology.

Publications

 * Urtext edition of Issipile (Francesco Bartolomeo Conti & Pietro Metastasio) with an introduction, Gran Tonante, 2011
 * El legado de la tradición clásica. El caso de la ópera barroca. In: Florentia Iliberritana 23, 2012, S. 45–62.
 * Hypsipyle from Lemnos to Vienna: An Approach to the Metastasian Heroine. In: Tycho: Revista de Iniciación en la Investigación del teatro clásico grecolatino y su tradición 1, 2013, S. 9–38.
 * "La tua Grecia, la quale a me non è Dio": Martello y Metastasio reinterpretando a Aristóteles. In: HUMANITASLXV, 2013, S. 219–250.
 * El hilo de Hipsípila: Metastasio y la Tradición Clásica. Levante editori, Bari, 2015, ISBN 978-88-7949-654-4.
 * Metastasio adaptado para el teatro español: el caso de la "Issipile". In: Homenaje al Profesor Juan Gil, Vol. V: Humanismo y Pervivencia del Mundo Clásico, 2015, S. 2501–2523.
 * Florilegium: Antologia Poetica (1999–2016). Levante editori, Bari, 2017, ISBN 978-88-7949-674-2.
 * Rules for Measured Music, Counterpoint and Accompanying (Anonymous, MS E.25 Bologna), Translation by Flavio Ferri-Benedetti, EarlyMusicSources.com, 2019, ISBN 978-3-033-07664-8
 * “Dell’opra eccitator primiero”: Metastasio, Farinelli e Ferdinando VI nelle dediche gemelle per la Nitteti del 1756. In: Margini XIV, 2020,.
 * "Forum: Gibt es eine geschlechtsspezifische Musikalität?" In: Musik & Ästhetik 109 (Januar 2024), pp. 67-69, ISSN Print 1432-9425

Discography
2010


 * William Hayes: The Passions | Schola Cantorum Basiliensis; Glossa

2012


 * Passo di pena in pena: Cantate Italiane | Ensemble Il Profondo, Johannes Keller; Cantus Records

2013


 * Johann Adolph Hasse: Didone abbandonata | Holzhauser, Barna-Sabadus, Hinterdobler, Celeng, Burkhart, Hofkapelle München, Dir: Michael Hofstetter; Naxos

2014


 * Christoph Willibald Gluck: La clemenza di Tito | Aikin, Trost, Milanesi, Barna-Sabadus, Ezenarro, L’Arte del Mondo, Dir: Werner Ehrhardt; Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
 * Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello: Tisbe | Bernsteiner, Pfeifer, Bellotto, Il Gusto Barocco, Dir: Jörg Halubek; CPO
 * La Pazza: A Madman’s Apology, | Il Profondo, Johannes Keller; Resonando Label

2016


 * Arias for Domenico Annibali – The Dresden Star Castrato, | Ensemble Il Basilico, Concertino Eva Saladin; Pan Classics
 * Georg Friedrich Händel – Messiah, | Musica Fiorita, Dir. Daniela Dolci; Pan Classics
 * Si no os hubiera mirado, Madrigals by Juan Vásquez | Los Afectos Diversos, Dir. Nacho Rodríguez; Itinerant Records

2017


 * Venezia – Cantatas and Sonatas by Barbara Strozzi, Domenico Zanatta, Francesco Cavalli... | Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci; Pan Classics
 * Giacomo Antonio Perti: Grands Motets for Ferdinando de’ Medici 1704–1706, | Musica Fiorita, Dir. Daniela Dolci; Pan Classics
 * Tomás Luis de Victoria: Requiem | Musica Ficta, Dir. Raúl Mallavibarrena; Enchiriadis – Arianne Series

2018


 * Fiamma vorace – Opera arias and Sinfonias by Geminiano Giacomelli, | Musica Fiorita, Dir. Daniela Dolci; Pan Classics
 * Johann Sebastian Bach – Weihnachtsoratorium, | Musica Fiorita, Dir. Daniela Dolci; Pan Classics
 * Antonio Soler: Obra vocal en latín | La Grande Chapelle, Dir. Albert Recasens; Lauda

2020


 * Superbo del mio affanno – Cantate per contralto di Benedetto Marcello | Daniel Rosin und Johannes Keller; Resonando Label

2022


 * Tañendo con voz sonora | Las Arpas Sonorosas; La Mà de Guido

Flavio Ferri Benedetti's albums are listed in his official website.

Compositions
Flavio has been composing music since his youth and has premiered some of his compositions in Basel since 2010. The latest and most important work is "La Passione di Gesù Cristo" to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio (1730), which premiered at the Predigerkirche in Basel March 24th 2023. Here is a partial list of compositions by Flavio Ferri-Benedetti.

Oratorio


 * La Passione di Gesù Cristo (2021) | Libretto: Pietro Metastasio (1730)

SATB soloists | SATB choir | Oboe, Strings, Continuo

PREMIERE: 24th March 2023 in Basel (details)

Sacred Music (Psalms, Mottets)


 * Salmo 69: Salva me, Deus (2010) | SATB, Strings, Continuo (Premiered 1st October 2010, Basel)
 * Salve Regina (2013) | Soprano or Mezzosoprano, Strings, Continuo (Premiered 2013, Castellón, Spain)
 * Salmo 129: De Profundis (2019/2020) | SA, 2 Violins, Continuo (Premiered June 2022, Basel)
 * Requiem for Sally Jans-Thorpe (2022) | SATB, Continuo (Premiered September 2022, Basel)

Chamber Cantatas (Secular)


 * Un’alma innamorata (2007) | Soprano, Traverso and Continuo (Premiered 2012, Basel)
 * Oh Dio, che non è vero! (2008) | Tenor, Violin Solo and Continuo (Text by Pietro Metastasio) (Premiered 2012, Basel)
 * Il Ciclope (2012) | Mezzosoprano, Bass, Violin Solo and Continuo (Text by Pietro Metastasio) (Premiered 2012, Basel)
 * La Gelosia (2012) | Alto and Continuo (Cello Obbligato in the prelude) (Text by Pietro Metastasio) (Premiered 2012, Basel)

Vocal Music (A Cappella)


 * Sonnet 119: Comme un fleuve (2019) | Mezzosoprano or Alto solo & Mixed Choir (Premiered 2019 – Basel)

Instrumental Music


 * The Mystery Of You (2017-2019) | Piano album (20 pieces)
 * Senza Morte (2021) | For Piano and Synthesizer
 * Suite “L’Amelia” in G-Minor | For Cembalo (2022)