Rondò Veneziano

Rondó Veneziano, an Italian chamber orchestra, distinguished itself from comparable ensembles not merely through its reliance on predominantly female performers and its consistent practice of appearing in authentic Baroque period attire, but above all through its distinctive fusion of conventional chamber repertoire with contemporary backing tracks, rhythmic patterns, and percussion. This approach lent the group’s classical textures an underlying club-music drive that occasionally veered toward progressive rock. The ensemble’s initial major breakthrough arrived in the United Kingdom in 1983 with the single “La Serenissima,” which paved the way two years later for a notable contribution scoring the film Not Quite Jerusalem. Its debut release, the self-titled album, appeared in 1980 and was succeeded by more than seventy further albums across the ensuing three decades. In 2005 the orchestra issued the live collection 25 Live.