Giuseppe de Majo worked principally within the city of Naples. He showed considerable skill in attaching himself to one of the largest local musical institutions, the court cappella, where we find him from May 1736 (as supernumerary organist). He managed to climb to the highest rungs of the institutional ladder, whether thanks to his acknowledged artistic gifts (in August 1737 he became pro-vicemaestro, and in 1744 vicemaestro) or by virtue of the not entirely legitimate ‘pressure’ applied in his favour by Queen Amalia. On the death of Leonardo Leo, a commission was appointed to choose by public examination his successor as director of the cappella: although he was competing against names of the highest stature, such as Porpora, Francesco Feo and Francesco Durante, and was supported only by Hasse among the four members of the jury, on 9 September 1745 de Majo was declared the winner against all predictions and all proprieties of procedure. It is entirely possible, given his long-term employment with the cappella, that the flute concerto recorded here was written for the Neapolitan court.
from notes by Stefano Aresi © 2010
English: Charles Johnston
Flute Concerto in G major
Carlo Ipata (flute), Auser Musici
