Italian composer Giovanni Battista Buonamente, a member of the Franciscan order, gained renown throughout Europe as a violinist, singer and choirmaster. He began his career at the Gonzaga court in Mantua, later becoming a chamber musician at the Viennese court of Ferdinand II, and his final post was as chapel master at the Sacro Convento in Assisi, where he remained until his death in 1643. His compositions have many characteristics of the early Italian Baroque.

This disc, inspired by a collection of instruments that were left to the Sacro Convento by Abbot Rivi in 1704, includes a selection of pieces from volumes IV, VI and VII of Buonamente’s instrumental music.

The first three volumes of this collection were lost, and the surviving volumes of the original collection were destroyed by fire at the Wroclaw library in Poland, where they had been housed. The pieces on this disc were chosen with the intent of using the instruments that Abbot Rivi had bequeathed to the Sacro Convento, along with the violin, theorbo, cello, organ and harpsichord, which records show were also present at the convent.

Laura Pontecorvo, a baroque flute specialist, has played first flute with the Concerto Italiano and regularly collaborates with ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, Divino Sospiro, Europa Galante and Accordone, L’Arte dell’arco. She has performed as a soloist all over the world and has recorded for several record labels, including Opus 111 and Stradivarius. She is joined on the recording by the Helianthus Ensemble.