On March 1620, the festa a ballo Delizie di Posillipo was performed at the Royal Palace of Naples to celebrate the recovery of King Philip III. Promoted by the Viceroy Pedro Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna, the spectacle featured splendid stage designs by Bartolomeo Cartaro and music by some of Naples’ finest composers: Pietro Antonio Giramo, Giacomo Spiardo, Andrea Ansalone, and especially Francesco Lambardi y Giovanni Maria Trabaci, maestro di cappella and organist of the viceregal chapel. As in the great court intermedii, the performance combined arias, canzonettas and dances, with alternating instrumental groups. On stage, Pan and Venus, symbols of the terrestrial and marine realms, compete for Posillipo, but the contest ends with a solemn final dance. La Grande Chapelle faithfully revives this sumptuous ballo, framed by the religious ceremonias and music organised by the Spanish court in Naples, a brilliant reflection of its power, multicultural identity and Baroque splendour.

Thanks to the sponsorship of the CEEH and the Fundación Tatiana, on 7 November 2024 La Grande Chapelle, directed by Albert Recasens, gave a new premiere of this festa at Sala de Cámara of the Auditorio Nacional de Música, at a concert organised by the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical (CNDM) to mark the fourth centenary of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna (1574-1624), as part of the series Universo Barroco.

Concert in the Auditorio Nacional