SPECCHI BAROCCHI: Monteverdi VS Cavalli

Description

Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Acate, Ilioneo, compagni, amici, act III, scene 6
from the opera La Didone, Venice, Teatro di San Casciano, 1641

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Vi ricorda, o boschi ombrosi, act II, single scene
from the opera L’Orfeo, SV 318, Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, 1607

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Canzona seconda detta La Bernardina, F 8.02, for flute and continuo,
from Primo Libro delle Canzoni a Una, Due, Tre, e Quattro voci, Rome, 1628

Francesco Cavalli
from the opera Orimonte, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano, 1650
Alla fin son ancor bella, act II, scene 6
Salitemi sul crin, act II, scene 6

Claudio Monteverdi
Del mio lungo viaggio, act II, scene 11
from the opera Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, SV 325, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano, 1640

Jean De Macque (ca.1550-1614)
Capriccio sopra re-fa-mi-sol for solo harpsichord
from Libro di canzone francese, 1617, London, British Library, Ms Add. 30491

Francesco Cavalli
E quando sarà il dì, act I, scene 7
from the opera Gli amori di Apollo e Dafne, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano, 1640

Claudio Monteverdi
 Oh dolor, act III, scene 1
from the opera Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, SV 325, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano, 1640

Andrea Falconieri (1585-1656)
La Suave Melodia e Sua Corrente, for flute and continuo
from Primo libro di canzone, sinfonie, fantasie, capricci, brandi, correnti, gagliarde, alemane, volte, Naples, 1650

Francesco Cavalli
from the opera L’Egisto, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano, 1643
Hipparco se non hai altra amante, act II, scene 8
Piacque a me sempre, act II, scene 8

Claudio Monteverdi
Ecco di dolci raggi, SV 249
from Scherzi musicali, Venice, 1632

In 17th century Venice, the tenor voice occupied an increasingly central role in opera, embodying a variety of roles one more fascinating than the other. Whether heroic figures such as Aeneas, Ulysses or Orpheus, or lighter, more comic characters such as the nurse, this tessitura acquires an unprecedented expressiveness and presence in the operas of Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli, who dominated the Venetian scene for several decades.

This programme illustrates this development through emblematic excerpts, which highlight the dramatic power and emotional depth of Monteverdi’s music alongside Cavalli’s refined melodic lines and theatrical accents. Vocal pieces dialogue with instrumental pieces by Frescobaldi and Vitali, offering an immersion into the lively and varied style of Venetian opera.