Ensemble MARE NOSTRUM, a roman ensemble directed by Andrea De Carlo, is one of the most original and surprising baroque ensembles, already a reference to the Roman Baroque music and especially the works of the great composer Alessandro Stradella.
Founded in 2005, the Ensemble Mare Nostrum begins as a "Consort of Viols". But the ensemble opens immediately to a wider repertoire, to explore the relationship between language, affetti and nature of sounds. The personal research of Andrea De Carlo in this field opens new prospects in technique and aesthetic of 17th c. vocal music.
Music for "Consort of Viols" but also the interpretation of works for organ and harpsichord - a common practice in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries - has led the Ensemble Mare Nostrum to different projects: an original orchestration of ORGELBUCHLEIN by J. S. Bach for MA Recordings (USA) receives the unanimous applause of the international critic, and the Diapason "Decouverte" in the French magazine DIAPASON (May 2011). A CD dedicated to French polyphony LE CONCERT DES VIOLES for the label RICERCAR (OUTHERE) is awarded with 5 Diapason (January 2010), and “Coup de coeur” 2010 by the Charles Cros Academy in Paris.
In 2012 is released for the label ALPHA (OUTHERE) the Cd "NUEVA ESPANA", a journey between the Spanish and Mexican music from the Renaissance to modern times.
In 2012 EMN begins to dedicate to roman music with the Cd "IL CONCERTO DELLE VIOLE BARBERINI" together with the Ensemble Vox Luminis for the label RICERCAR (OUTHERE), followed by a CD of roman unknown cantatas by Marco Marazzoli for the label ARCANA (OUTHERE) "OCCHI BELLI, OCCHI NERI."
The 2013 saw the birth of THE STRADELLA PROJECT, a CDs collection for the label ARCANA (OUTHERE) dedicated to the works of this great composer, recorded in the International Festival Alessandro Stradella Nepi (Italy), his native town.
The first release, a world premiere recording, is the Serenade of Alessandro Stradella "LA FORZA DELLE STELLE" (5 Diapason), followed by the world premiere recording of the oratorio S. GIOVANNI CRISOSTOMO (5 Diapason) 2014, the world premiere recording of the oratorio S. EDITTA, VERGINE E MONACA, REGINA D'INGHILITERRA in 2016 (5 Diapason), the oratorio S. PELAGIA in 2017 (5 Diapason) and the very first opera by Stradella, LA DORICLEA with the ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro In 2018 (5 Diapason) and Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 1.2020 for the OPERA.
In 2020 the ensemble released the opera IL TRESPOLO TUTORE (Diapason Découverte), Longlist Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2021, and in 2021 the new and unknown opera by Stradella, AMARE E FINGERE, Longlist Preis Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2022.
Ensemble Mare Nostrum has performed at major international festivals such as TAGE ALTER MUSIK HERNE (Germany), DE BIJLOKE, Gent (Belgium), Festival Internacional de Ubeda y Baeza (Spain), MAISON DE RADIO FRANCE, Paris (France), Festival Internacional de Musica Sacra in Quito (Ecuador), Academie Bach Arques-la-Bataille (France), Festival de Saint Michel en Tierrache, (France), Festival de Sablé (France), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), FONTDOUCE Festival (France), Festival Concertes d'été in Saint Germain (Switzerland), Festival LES NUITES BAROQUES in Le Touquet (France), Festival IZMIR (Turkey), I Concerti del Quirinale (Italy), Festival Noites de Queluz (Portugal), Stockholm Early Music festival (Sweden), Festival Zamek Krolekski Warsaw (Poland), Wigmore Hall (UK).
In December 2021 collaborated with the orchestra of the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genova for the performance of the oratorio S. G. Battista by A. Stradella.
Coming soon are Un angelo del Paradiso, a monographic programme on the figure of the castrato Marcantonio Orrigoni, protagonist of Stradella's last Genoese operas, the opera Moro per Amore, the oratorio Ester, liberatrice del popolo ebreo and the two versions of the operetta La Circe, composed by a very young Stradella.
