With the passage of the Viceregno under the control of the Habsburgs in 1707, cultural and artistic exchanges between Naples and Vienna intensified. Sources related to the makeup of the Cappella Reale show two significant trends: the growth of the string section and the introduction and increasing relevance of wind instruments. New documents record the early career in Naples of Francesco Geminiani in connection with the beginnings of the operatic season at the Teatro de’ Fiorentini, where the virtuoso is employed as first violin. Following the outset of the War of the Spanish Succession, Neapolitan musicians were summoned to the Real Capilla of Barcelona, the splendid music chapel established by Archduke Charles of Habsburg to assert his claims to the Spanish throne. When Charles became emperor in 1711 some of these musicians joined the Imperial Chapel in Vienna. The lists of personnel of the Hofmusikkapelle show that a number of virtuosi from Naples formed the core of the string section and contributed to the cosmopolitanism of that ensemble. The prestige of the Neapolitan string school is confirmed by the appointment of Giovanni Antonio Piani, who moved from Paris to Vienna in 1721, at the helm of the Imperial Chapel.

The advent of the Bourbon dynasty in 1702 interrupted almost two centuries of Spanish dominion in Naples and opened up channels of artistic exchange between Naples and Paris. Arcangelo Corelli’s visit to Naples to celebrate the new king, Philip V, albeit allegedly ill fated, attests to the significance of the Neapolitan instrumental tradition and emblematically marks the start of the migration of Neapolitan musicians throughout Europe. The string virtuosi trained in the Neapolitan conservatories were the first players to familiarize French audiences with advanced Italian performance practices and had a crucial role in the dissemination of the Italian sonata in France. The initial resistance to the “eccentric” performances of these virtuosi, attested in the chronicles of the time, sparked debates on the respective merits of French and Italian music. Italian music became the expression of a new aesthetic and received the support of powerful aristocratic families and prominent members of the emerging French bourgeoisie, eager to distinguish themselves from the old regime. The new aesthetic approach appears in full display in the collection of solo violin sonatas published in Paris in 1712 by Giovanni Antonio Piani. In the preface to his collection, Piani provides examples of the advanced performance practices carried out by the Neapolitan virtuosi.