Folger Consort Opens 2024/25 Season With Early Italian Music In September
Performances will include an excerpt from the first opera composed by a woman, music with lyrics by Machiavelli, and works by Claudio Monteverdi.
Folger Consort, the award-winning early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, begins its 2024–2025 season with four concerts in the historic Elizabethan Theatre on Capitol Hill from Friday, September 13 through Sunday, September 15. Tale of Two Cities: Music of Florence and Venice features music associated with the early Italian republics of Florence and Venice and opens the Folger Shakespeare Library's 2024–2025 season theme Whose Democracy?, an exploration of political power and civic participation.
“We're exhilarated to start the season with this great Italian music, responding to this year's Folger theme, Whose Democracy?," says Christopher Kendall, Folger Consort co-Artistic Director and founder. “These early republics produced scintillating music that still amazes us many centuries later.”
The Venetian portion of the concert commences with a couple of early 16th-century popular songs. The rest of the selected Venetian music is 17th-century, truly a golden age for music in Venice, with an extended foray into the works of Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), who towered above his contemporaries as one of the true giants of Europe's musical past. In addition to a few of his pieces, the Consort will include Octavia's aria Addio Roma from Monteverdi's last opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea.
The Florentine selections for this concert include a variety of works that celebrate Florence as a major political and cultural center, a nexus for artistic, architectural, and scientific achievements, and a musical capital of Europe. Works include a piece in honor of Florence by Heinrich Isaac, the great 15th-century Flemish composer who made Florence his adopted home. Other Florentine pieces include lyrics contributed by one of the world's most infamous political thinkers: Niccolo Machiavelli. Celebrating Florence as the birthplace of opera, the concerts will feature two excerpts from the first opera composed by a woman, Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero, commissioned by the Regent Archduchess Maria Maddalena.
“I am delighted to welcome my friends Marcello Mazzetti and Livio Ticli to Washington to join me and the rest of our exciting ensemble for these concerts,” shares Folger Consort Artistic Director and founding member Robert Eisenstein. “You will be treated to Italian music as it should be done!”
Marcello Mazzetti (baritone and tenor, lute and tenor viola da gamba) and Livio Ticli (tenor, alto, and harpsichord), both renowned Italian musicians, make a welcome return to the Folger for this special series of concerts. The Consort is led by Artistic Directors and founding members Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall. Musical artists include Tatiana Chulochnikova (violin), Robert Eisenstein (vielle, viola da gamba, and violin), Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), and William Simms (theorbo, lute, and guitar).
On September 11, at 6pm, Folger Consort co-Artistic Director Robert Eisenstein shares historical and musical background information related to Tale of Two Cities: The Music of Florence and Venice. This virtual Early Music Seminar is $10 to live-stream virtually, with special discounts for Folger Members and Consort subscribers.
Tickets for Tale of Two Cities: Music of Florence and Venice can be purchased online at www.folger.edu/consort or by contacting the Folger box office at (202) 544-7077. Tickets are $20–$45, with discounts available for Folger members and subscribers, seniors, students, patrons age 35 and under, educators, military and their families, and groups.
Subscriptions for the full Folger Consort series—Tale of Two Cities (September 13–15, 2024), A Mass for Christmas Eve (December 6–15, 2024), The Love Birds (February 14–16, 2025), and Kings and Commonwealth (May 2–4, 2025)—are available at https://www.folger.edu/tickets/subscriptions/folger-consort-subscriptions/.
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