MVSICA PERDVTA is a cultural association founded in 2007 by Renato Criscuolo and Valerio Losito, dedicated to searching libraries and archives for unpublished or little-known music by eminent authors and composers, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, who—despite their talent and compositional skill—have been overlooked by music history and deserve to be reevaluated. Once studied, the rediscovered music is performed in concert, often in its modern premiere, using original Baroque instruments or faithful copies thereof. The association also organized the Concerti Spirituali series at the Oratory of San Filippo Neri in the sacristy of S. Maria in Vallicella in Rome from 2008 to 2011 and the TodiMusicAntica Festival Paolo Antonio Rolli in Todi from 2013 to 2017.

Among the research group’s numerous discoveries are the cantata Mira Lilla gentile by G. F. Handel, the motet Vos Invito RV 811 and the aria Se fide quanto belle RV 749.32, both by Antonio Vivaldi, three sonatas for cello and basso continuo by Nicolò Porpora, and various alternative versions of cantatas by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, as well as the rediscovery of lesser-known composers such as Francesco Maria Zuccari. From an organological perspective, the research group studied and had the bass violin—a precursor to the cello—reconstructed, and examined its repertoire. In 2008, the research group organized a conference at the Sacred Convent of Assisi titled Ten Mysterious Sonatas, focusing on the attribution of a splendid anonymous manuscript of sonatas for cello and basso continuo, and, the following year, in collaboration with the University of Rome 2 Tor Vergata, the conference/concert Around J. J. Rousseau, a Philosopher-Musician.

The Baroque ensemble, performing on period instruments, has appeared at major Italian and European festivals, including the Haendelfestspiele in Halle, Musique et Mémoire, Animamusicae in Gdańsk, the Rome Baroque Festival, the San Gimignano Baroque Festival, the Pietà dei Turchini Baroque Festival, Segni Barocchi, MusicaSibrii, and others. The ensemble has released six recordings for the labels Brilliant Classics and Urania Record, most of which feature previously unpublished works discovered by the research group. Another recording project featuring Emanuele Barbella’s violin sonatas is currently in progress. MVSICA PERDVTA has released a CD for Classic Voice Classic Antiqua (No. 5: Around the Oratorio of San Filippo Neri) and the music for the iPhone app “i-MiBAC – Top 40” (the first in a series of free, multi-thematic mobile apps dedicated to cultural heritage, released by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities). The ensemble has also collaborated on several occasions with Handel House in London for performances of music by the great Saxon composer.