Naldi Antonio, known as Il Bardella, *mid-16th century Bologna (?), †25 January 1621 Florence, Italian chitarronist and singer. From 1571 until his death, he was associated with the Medici court in Florence, and from 1589 to 1619 he was the chitarronist of the court orchestra of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. G. Caccini (Le nuove musiche, Florence 1602) considered Naldi to be the inventor of the chitarrone and the most accomplished virtuoso of this instrument, while S. Bonini (Prima parte de’ discorsi e regole sovra la musica, manuscript, Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana) considered him to be the creator of the theorbo. E. de Cavalieri considered him one of his main rivals at the Medici court. Naldi took part in the performances of the first accompanied monodies in Florence; his realisation of basso continuo was particularly appreciated. He was also the accompanist of the famous singer V. Archilei.
Literature: C.V. Palisca Musical Asides in the Diplomatic Correspondence of E. de Cavalieri, “The Musical Quarterly” XLIX, 1963; D.A. Smith On the origin of the chitarrone, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXXII, 1979; M. Fabbri La collezione medicea degli strumenti musicali in due sconosciuti inventari del primo Seicento, “Note d’Archivio” I, 1983; P. Gargiulo Strumenti alla corte medicea: nuovi documenti e sconosciuti inventari (1553–1609), “Note d’Archivio” III, 1985; Z.M. Szweykowski Między kunsztem a ekspresją, I Florencja, Krakow 1992; W. Kirkendale The Court Musicians in Florence during the Principate of the Medici, Florence 1993; W. Kirkendale E. de’ Cavalieri „Gentiluomo Romano”. His Life and Letters, His Role as Superintendent of All the Arts at the Medici Court, and His Musical Compositions, Florence 2001.
