Music of Bella Italia
Acclaimed Folger Consort’s Season Features Several Periods of Italian Music
By Nancy DeSanti
Did you know Niccolò Machiavelli, besides being the author of “The Prince,” was a musical composer as well? Many people are probably not aware of this side of the famous political philosopher. who was also a humanist, poet, and playwright at a time when Florence was full of great musicians To show the musical aspect of his genius, the Folger Shakespeare Library is starting off its fall 2019/2020 season with a program entitled “Music for Machiavelli: Florence Circa 1500.”
It’s the first in the “Bella Italia” series of five programs which will highlight early Italian music. Music for Machiavelli includes 4 concerts of Italian early music performed by Folger Consort over the September 27-29 weekend, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill. For AMHS members, Folger’s marketing manager, Peter Eramo (whose heritage is Abruzzese), is offering a special discount for the Machiavelli concerts. Instead of the $42 regular ticket price, AMHS members can buy tickets for $30 by going to the website www.folger.edu/events/music-for-machiavelli and using the promo code ITALIANA30.
The Folger’s five programs are:
Music for Machiavelli:87
Florence circa 1500
September 27 - 29, 2019
The author of “The Prince” walked the streets of Florence 500 years ago. A true Renaissance man — philosopher, playwright, diplomat, and composer, he wrote carnival songs (canti carnivaleschi) for the Medici family and music for his two comedic stage plays. Folger Consort Artistic Directors Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall have planned a wonderful program of works by Alexander Agricola, Alessandro Coppini, Bartolomeo dell’Organo, and the Flemish composed favored by the Medicis, Heinrich Isaac.
Gloria! A Baroque Italian Christmas
December 13 - 18, 2019
Folger Consort will present 8 concerts during this Christmas season, journeying to Venice with Vivaldi’s much-loved Gloria. Other seasonal music from the Italian High Baroque includes Alessandro Scarlatti’s Christmas Cantata (“O di Betlemme altera, povertà venturosa”) and Corelli’s magnificent Christmas Concerto.
Palestrina’s Perfect Art with Stile Antico
February 7 - 8, 2020
at Washington National Cathedral The great nave of Washington National Cathedral is the perfect setting for the transcendent ars perfecta of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and other composers of the late Italian Renaissance.
The Three Fountains: Music for Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio
March 6 - 8, 2020
The lyrical art of Trecento composers was inspired by the poets known as Italy’s Three Fountains: Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Musicians such as Gherardello da Firenze, Jacopo da Bologna, and Francesco Landini excelled in setting the poetry of these masters in a graceful and melodic style that was different from the music of their contemporaries.
Monteverdi in Venice: The Birth of the Baroque
April 24 - 26, 2020
Just as Beethoven is the giant figure presiding over the transition from the Classical to the Romantic, Monteverdi is the great composer standing astride the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Featured are Monteverdi’s madrigals, selections from his operas, as well as his rousing setting of Torquato Tasso’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, first performed in Venice in 1624.
The concerts will be performed by the Folger Shakespeare Consort, the early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library which specializes in music from the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Any AMHS members who are interested in going as a group to the “Music for Machiavelli” concert, please contact Nancy DeSanti at ndesanti7@gmail.com. ❚