Francesco Durante (1684-1755) was the most important representative of the Neapolitan School in the first half of the 18-th century, “the greatest harmonist in Italy, that is the world” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Dictionnaire de Musique. His pupils include Pergolesi, Jommelli and Paisiello.

Although Durante was foremost a composer of sacred music he is widely known for his famous 12 Concertos for Strings. These 3- or 4-movement concertos are highly skillful works in which the Baroque polyphony is infused with Neapolitan Galante Style elements, as well as certain unusual melodic, rhythmic and harmonic twists, foreshadowing the Sturm und Drang style.

The Italian Ensemble Imaginaire is specialized in the exploration of Neapolitan Baroque music. They play on period instruments and have based their performance on a new critical survey of the original manuscript scores.