Absolute mastery of all aspects of these répertoires. These Italians, fond of Trecento... Michele Pasotti's exhilarating energy is no stranger to it: lively tempos, pointillist ornamentations, the Italian collective masters the formidable complexity of the subtle pieces.

La Fonte Musica is an ensemble specialising in medieval and Renaissance music on period instruments, founded and directed by Michele Pasotti.
Each project is the result of constant and serious philological research, aimed at understanding, restoring and translating for us, today, extraordinarily creative, experimental and refined music that is still almost unexplored.
The ensemble has performed at some of Europe's most prestigious early music festivals: Oude Muziek (Utrecht), Resonanzen (Konzerthaus, Wien), Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin), MA Festival Bruges (Belgium), Laus Polyphoniae Antwerpen, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik , Ravenna Festival, Regensburg Tage Alte Musik, Wratislavia Cantans (Wroclaw), Herne Tage Alter Musik, Concerts Medieval du Musée de Cluny (Paris), Festival Voix et Route Romane, Festival de Lanvellec, Musica Sacra Maastricht, Konzertsaal der Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna), Festival Povoa de Varzim, Teatro la Fenice (Venice), Cantar di Pietre (Switzerland), Festival MiTo (Milan-Turin).
Fonte Musica's concerts and CDs have been broadcast by BBC (UK), Rai Radio Tre (Italy), ORF 1 (Austria), RBB kulturradio (Germany), Polskie Radio (Poland), NPO Radio 4 (Netherlands), Antena 2 (Portugal).
In August 2021, Alpha Classics released a 4-CD boxed set of recordings by Fonte Musica featuring the world premiere of Zacara's work, which has been unanimously acclaimed by international critics and covered with awards: Diapason d'Or, Diapason Magazine, Sept. 2021; Gramophone's Editor's choice, Gramophone Magazine, Oct. 2021; German Critics' Prize (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Nov. 2021; Choix de France Musique, Nov. 2021; Disc of the Month, Toccata, Dec. 2021; Disc of the Week, The Guardian, Sept. 2021; nominated for the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2022.
Fonte Musica's second recording, 'Metamorfosi Trecento. Transformations du mythe dans l'Ars Nova", published by Alpha, won the DIAPASON d'OR and was also Disc of the Month for the Italian magazine AMADEUS. In 2018, DIAPASON named 'Metamorfosi Trecento' one of the 100 records that every music lover should know. Metamorfosi was also a finalist at ICMA 2018.
Fonte Musica's first record, "Le Ray au Soleyl. Musica alla corte pavese dei Visconti (1360-1410)" received 5 DIAPASONS and was assessed as an "impressive first disc". The CD was awarded the "SUPERSONIC AWARD" by "PIZZICATO" magazine, and was a finalist for Record of the Year for Amadeus.

MICHELE PASOTTI

From the very beginning of his musical life, Michele Pasotti has played and listened to a wide variety of music. He obtained his lute diploma under Massimo Lonardi and specialised following seminars with Hopkinson Smith and Paul O'Dette. At the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan, he went on to specialise in Renaissance theory and counterpoint, and furthered his study of medieval music in both Milan and Barcelona (ESMUC). At the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", he took the Ars Nova specialisation course in Europe, where he graduated with honours. He also graduated with honours in theoretical philosophy with a thesis on Martin Heidegger.
From 2013 to 2018, Michele Pasotti taught an Ars Nova course at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan. Since 2013 he has held the chair of lute at the "Maderna" Conservatory in Cesena and since 2020 also at the ISSM Vittadini in Pavia. He often gives intensive seminars on medieval music and the lute at specialist institutes, conservatoires, schools and festivals.
He is the director and founder of the fonte musica, an ensemble to which he devotes most of his musical life. In addition to his work with the fonte musica, he is called upon to conduct various ensembles, including Capella Cracoviensis and Harmonia Cordis. As a lutenist, he regularly works with Il Giardino Armonico, Collegium Vocale, I Barocchisti, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble, Arcangelo, Les Musiciens du Prince, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri, Sheridan Ensemble and Cecilia Bartoli. He is passionate about chamber music in small ensembles (duo with Alena Dantcheva, trio Il Ricercar Continuo with Giulia Genini and Alessandro Palmeri).
He has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe, the United States and Asia, under the baton of Claudio Abbado, John Eliot Gardiner, Giovanni Antonini, Philippe Herreweghe, Marc Minkowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Diego Fasolis, Christophe Rousset, Andrea Marcon, Monica Huggett and Nathalie Stutzmann. As a soloist (lute, theorbo, baroque guitar), his repertoire ranges from the Middle Ages to the late 18th century, and he has recorded a work dedicated to the great 17th-century guitarist Francesco Corbetta (Dynamic).
He has appeared on over 70 recordings (for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI / Virgin Classics, Alpha Classics, Warner, Naïve, Sony / Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, SWR, Glossa, Cercaar, Avie, The Classic Voice, Amadeus) and has taken part in numerous radio and television programmes (BBC, Rai Radio 3, ORF, WDR, Radio Polskie, Rete 2 della Rsi, France 2, France Musique, Mezzo).