2 Musicians Stravaganti Fiori d'Amor Sacro The idea of Stravaganza is everywhere in the Italian music of the Cinquecento, provoking with its peculiar musical effects (dissonances, unexpected harmonies, ostinato) and its expressive texts a reaction (Affetto) in the listeners. The Stravaganza proclaims the beginning of the Baroque era. Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Rossi voice, harpsichord/organ

3 Musicians O Bone Jesu Considerazioni sulla morte di Christo (Considerations on the death of Jesus Christ) This program reveals how a number of re-uses of secular music (madrigals) for religious purposes in motets, also served by the new monodic sound, expressed at its best the adoration of the sacred figures. This preoccupation with the sorrow of a human being confronting the death of the beloved one, whether a religious figure (Christ) or the lover, was the main source of inspiration for all composers at the time. GF Sances, C Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Domenico Mazzocchi, Benedetto Ferrari voice, harp, harpsichord/organ

4 Musicians Lamentazioni per la Settimana Santa The Holy Week in Italy of the Seicento - motets and 'Leçons de Ténèbres' Christ's Passion is probably, along with his birth, the moment in Christian history which has most inspired painters and musicians alike. At the beginning of the Seicento, the laments provoked by the tearful vision of Jesus on the cross found a perfect expression in the monody of nuova mùsica, which can wonderfully convey human passions (affetti). The composers used all the resources of the chromatic language for us to share the Virgin's and Mary Magdalene's sorrow at the foot of the Cross, or the terrible visions of the Prophet Jeremiah. Mazzochi, Ferrari, Frescobaldi, Mannelli, Marcorelli voice, viola da gamba, archiluth, harpsichord/organ

5 Musicians Da L'una a L'altra Riva From one river bank to the other) - Tra l'Olimpo e l'Inferno Between the Olympus of Diana and the infernal depths where Pluto exiles Proserpina, the divinities take on a moving, "human" dimension through music by the masters of the early through late Seicento style. Sigismondo D'India, Giovanni-Felice Sances, Cataldo Amodei, Alessandro Scarlatti voice, viola da gamba, archiluth/guitar, theorb, harpsichord/organ

Questo Dolce Tormento (The torments of love) Love and its torments are at the centre of the poems used by the monodists of the 17th century. Affetti, Lamenti, Pastorale, Canzonette, Arie, Cantate, are all forms used to convey the different states of a loving mind. Monteverdi, d'India, Strozzi, Sances voice, viola da gamba, theorb, harp, harpsichord

Amours mystiques, amours profanes In his paintings, Le Titien represents both sacred and secular love with the same feminine figure, either dressed or naked, showing the most representative aesthetics of his era. In the same vein and on the same theme, the Seicento composers celebrate the sacrality of art. Sances, Monteverdi, Mazzochi, Cesti Voice, viola da gamba, archiluth, harp, harpsichord/organ

La Venise Sacrée de Monteverdi The reign of the famous Kapellmaster in Saint-Mark marked the zenith of Venitian sacred music. In his works per canto solo, he shows the same diversity as in the great polyphonic psalms, with, sometimes, as in the famous Pianto della Madonna, a typical expressivity of his genius. Moreover, one can hear in this programme works by the great Roman composer Giovanni-Felice Sances (among others his magnificent Stabat Mater) and by other contemporaries of Monteverdi, also living in Venice, such as Giovanni Rigatti and Francesco Cavalli. Monteverdi, Sances, Cavalli, Ragatti voice, viola da gamba, archiluth, harp, harpichord/organ

Il Canto delle Dame Feminine music of the Italian Seicento The emergence of highly talented women composers in Italy during the 17th century is an isolated phenomenon in the history of baroque music, the most famous of all being Barbara Strozzi, the daughter of Monteverdi's librettist. The feminine figure - both sacred (the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdeleine) and secular - is also at the centre of Italian music; Luigi Rossi's Lamenti and the Stabat Mater by Giovanni Felice Sances are just two particularly significant examples. Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Caterina Assandra, Isabella Leonarda 2 versions: 5 Musicians First half of sacred music; motets by F.Caccini, B.Strozzi and C.Assandra, and Giovanni Felice Sances' Stabat Mater. Second half with madrigals by F.Caccini, B.Strozzi and Luigi Rossi's Lamenti. voice, viola da gamba, harp, archiluth, harpsichord/organ 7 Musicians Motets with violins by I.Leonarda and C.Assandra, B.Strozzi's Cantatas and Serenata. voice, 2 violins, viola da gamba, harp, archiluth, harpsichord/organ

6 Musicians Bella Madre de Fiori In his cantatas Scarlatti reveals the richness and refinement of his writing, in which is found a beautiful melodic fluidity and daring innovation of harmony which opens the doors to composers such as Haendel and Bach. His particular attention to the text, especially in the recitatives, allows us to define Alessandro Scarlatti as the heir to the Nuova Musica at the beginning of the Seicento. voice, violin, violin cello, harp, archilute and harpsichord

7 Musicians Et in Terra Pax Motets Italiens du Seicento; texts from the Biblic History How can one speak about Peace without mentioning War and the violent events narrated in the Old Testament which provide the instrumental 'battaglie' from the beginning of the 17th century with all the apocalyptic climax. In opposition, the main figure to illustrate Peace is Christ whose message of good will appeases pain and suffering caused by the world's terrible violence. D.Mazzochi, Frescobaldi, Monteverdi, Tarditi, Legrenzi voice, 2 violins, archiluth, viola da gamba, arpa, harpsichord/organ

8 Musicians Sigismondo d'India, Nobile Palermitano D'India (v1580 - 1629) was one of the great composers at the beginning of the Seventeenth Century. Born in Palermo, he shared his life between Rome and Modena, after having been in the Duc de Savoie's service in Turin. It is his monodic output that forms the basis of this programme, which introduces excerpts from various collections of 'Musiche' which were regularly published in both Venice and Milan throughout his life. voice, 2 violins, 2 viola da gambas, harp, archilute/guitar, harpsichord

Fiori Celesti/Flores del cielo Christmas Motets from Italy and Spain circa 1700 The brief motet common at the beginning of 18th century in Italy evolved into the form of cantata for one soloist accompanied by two violins and a continuo, which then eventually led to 'Bel Canto'. In Spain, the motet for one soloist, under the influence of popular music, developed much later than in Italy into a sophisticated form. The Cantata Pastorale by Alessandro Scarlatti, whose connections with Spain were numerous, demonstrates this by mixing the shepherd's 'zampogna' with elaborated music of his own. The texts usually evoke the History of Nativity (Jesus, Mary and Joseph). A. Scarlatti, Soler, Cabanilles, Ziani, Perti, Cazzati, Legrenzi, Duron voice, 2 violins, viola da gamba, bassoon, harp, archlute/guitar, organ

Il Ballo della Ninfa Balletti, ciaccone, passacaglie… : ritmi e danze nella vocalità del Seicento Apart from the numerous vocal balletti, dance rhythm is present in a great part of vocal music from the 17th century, augmented with great poetry and sumptuous decors. Chaconnes, Passacailles, Scherzi all translated in obstinate rhythms, sometimes borrowed from the popular music. This programme presents a masterpiece, Monteverdi's Balletto: della Belleza le dovute Lodi. D'india, Monteverdi, Sances, Strozzi, Trabci, Merula, Picchi voices: soprano, bass, 2 violins, harp, archiluth, cello, harpsichord/organ

8 Artists L'Amour de Madeleine In the 17th century, the figure of Mary Magdalene was a permanent source of inspiration for both painters and writers. Towards 1694, the famous author Bossuet wrote a splendid meditation entitled L'Amour de Madeleine dedicated to Ursulines in Meaux, which Marc-Antoine Charpentier set to music. (In France, he is the only composer to have written music on the theme of Mary Magdalene). To celebrate the tricentenary of both Bossuet and Charpentier's deaths in 2004, this programme alternates readings and musical works of these two prestigious artists, who were both employed in the service of the French Dauphin, one as a tutor, the other one as the composer of the Dauphin's personal music. Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Claudio Monteverdi voice, two violins, viola da gamba, harp, archiluth, harpsichord/organ, narrator