GALWAY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVALMay 9-12, 2013

ATALANTENadine Balbeisi - soprano

Theodora Baka - mezzo-sopranoSiobhán Armstrong - triple harpJörg Jacobi - harpsichord

Erin Headley - viola da gamba, lirone, director

Eloquent & Elevated

RESURGAMMark Duley - Director

Ancient Laments Told Through 17th-Century Roman Poetry and Music

Saturday, May 11, 20138:00 pm

St Nicholas Collegiate Church

Galway Early Music would like to thank its sponsors and friends, without whose support the

Festival would not happen.

Delo CollierMichael & Claire Cuddy

Tom GrealyRiana & Pat O’Dwyer

MEDIA SPONSORS

SILVER PATRONS

SUPPORTED BY

Adare Guesthouse Kimberly LoPreteGOLD PATRONS

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TOThe Rector & Vestry of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, withheartfelt thanks to Catherine Moore-Temple

The director and staff of the Galway City Museum, with specialthanks to Brendan Mc Gowan

See our general Festival Promo on Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fveRZSI1pi8

or scan this QR code:

Seán & Lois TobinSt Anthony’s & Claddagh

Credit UnionAnn McDonagh

Galway Early Music #gwy_earlymusic

ELEGANT AND ELEVATEDAncient Laments Told through 17th-Century Roman Poetry and Music

Misereris omnium, Domine Domenico Mazzocchi(Sacrae concertationes, 1664) (1592–1665)

Passacaglia dell’ Seigneur Louigi* Luigi Rossi(1597–1653)

Spars'il crine e lagrimosa Luigi Rossi(Lament of Zaida)

Dove fuggi, crudele? Marco Marazzoli(Lament of Armida) (1602–1662)

Lamento di David** Domenico Mazzocchi(Sacrae concertationes, 1664)

interval

Cadute erano al fine Marco Marazzoli (Lament of the aged Helen of Troy)

Toccata Settima* Girolamo Frescobaldi(Secondo Libro, 1627) (1583–1643)

Già celebrato havea la Regina di Caria Marco Marazzoli (Lament of Artemisia)

Dialogo della Maddalena** Domenico Mazzocchi(Sacrae concertationes, 1664)

* instrumental** with Resurgam

ELEGANT AND ELEVATED

Ancient Laments Told through 17th-Century RomanPoetry and Music

With Monteverdi's Arianna and the birth of opera and solo song in the early1600s, a compelling new genre appeared and swept the whole of the 17thcentury. The heirs of Monteverdi's legacy, led by Luigi Rossi and his Romancolleagues, elevated the poetry of the solo lament to new expressive heights.Helen of Troy, Armida, Artemisia, Mary Magdalene and Zaida are but a fewof the tragic heroines whose stories, as told in music, have recently been res-cued from the vaults of the Vatican Library.

Tonight's programme unveils a rich repertoire excavated, restored andbrought to life again through Atalante's semi-staged performances. Singers inCaravaggio-style costumes from scenes of antiquity present ‘living paintings’to enhance the narratives, and offer listeners a virtual experience equippedwith the cultural store of a 17th-century mind. Realism, sensuality, ecstasy,and eroticism were hallmarks of this music, qualities most vividly exempli-fied in art through the narrative dramatic sculptures of the incomparableGian Lorenzo Bernini. First awakened in Rome, this ultra-expressive, extrav-agant style later came to be known as ‘Baroque’.

The discovery of this remarkable music and its fascinating culture arose frommy long research on the lirone, the bowed string instrument that for 200years (1500–1700) cast a magic spell over listeners in Italy and beyond theAlps. Rome was the city of the Counter-Reformation, the Barberini familywere the generous sponsors of its musical entertainments, and the lirone wasthe instrument most especially associated with the Roman lament. This wasits true realm in cantatas, sacred operas, and oratorios from 1620 until theend of the century. The lirone is joined tonight by the Italian triple harp andharpsichord to create a truly Roman kaleidoscope of colours and effects andan ultra-luxurious accompaniment for these tragic narratives.

Luigi Rossi was the leading composer of 17th-century bel canto, theRoman school of elegant and lyrical melodic writing and ultra-expressiverecitative; triple-time arias in particular are full of his unmistakable suavity,and a hallmark of the style. His circle included Marco Marazzoli, DomenicoMazzocchi and many other composers who heightened the powerfully ex-pressive, often decadent texts of contemporary Roman poets to create a newmusical aesthetic. This approach harmonised with the Counter-Reforma-tion's conscious strategy of spreading its doctrines, especially through music

and the visual arts. Its banner heralded the attributes of martyrdom anddeath, extravagant repentance, lamenting, and religious ecstasy, not onlythrough Christian but also through Classical narratives. Its motto Delectareet docere – to delight while instructing – was no more evident than in thelament, the ideal vehicle to serve the cause since it intimately involved thelistener in a narrative of emotional struggle that ended in catharsis or re-demption.

Luigi Rossi’s Spars'il crine e lagrimosa is the lament of a young Muslimwoman who witnesses the abduction of her lover Mustafa by pirates on to aTuscan ship. The opening short narration is one of the most savoury and ex-quisite moments in 17th-century music, evoking images of the exotic East.Zaida's gentle refrains in arioso, pleading for Mustafa's return, punctuatewaves of ferocious rage set in biting recitative, and in the end she not onlycurses the Christian god, but, in final and desperate fury, Mohammed him-self.

Marco Marazzoli's Già celebrato havea explores the twisted mind ofArtemisia, Queen of Caria in the 4th century BC. Grief over the death ofher husband Mausolo turns to madness when she begins to drink his ashesin her daily goblet of wine, ending in a succession of nightmarish hallucina-tions, delirium, hysteria, and guilt. The cantata is conventional in form, withits ordering of three recitative and aria pairs, and Marazzoli's style exhibits allthe hallmarks of the suave bel canto; but it is also distinctly individual andinventive in its wayward melodic twists and turns, odd intervals, momentarydissonances, and startling wide leaps.

The Lament of Armida also exhibits Marazzoli’s quirky and imaginative mu-sical language, but the architectural form is less predictable than it is inArtemisia. The story comes from Tasso’s epic Gerusalemme liberata, in whichanother Muslim heroine, Armida, during the First Crusade, encounters herChristian enemy Rinaldo, falls in love with him and casts a spell on him. Heis rescued by his fellow warriors and abandons her, thus her compellinglament. Tasso re-wrote versions of the ending many times; in one she con-verts to Christianity, in another, unbridled rage destroys her enchanted gar-den. Unlike other abandoned women of literature such as Dido, she doesnot commit suicide; here she is finally and proudly resigned to Rinaldo’sdedication to the art of war.

Cadute erano al fine is a vanitas cantata: its centerpiece has Helen of Troybitterly reflecting on her own old age. Unusually, a second singer narrates,and the two voices join in a final spirited duet warning of fallen youth andbeauty.

Between Rossi and Marazzoli, over 700 manuscripts of chamber cantatas,operas and oratorios survive, many of which include laments. DomenicoMazzocchi also made important contributions to the repertoire, and his,more than any other contemporary’s, appeared in printed editions. Sacraeconcertationes was published posthumously in 1664, with 19 works for theoratory set in Latin for two to nine voices. Misereris omnium, Domine isbased on the Ash Wednesday introit, in which two praying souls reflect onGod’s mercy via imaginatively varied textures from simple chant style toflorid passagework, and picturesque rhetorical and imitative figures, fre-quently highlighted by tempo indications.

David’s solo ‘Considera Israel’ from the oratorio Lamento di David offersclear printed evidence for the lirone as the preferred continuo instrument inlaments. Rossi and Marazzoli assign a similar role to the instrument in theiroratorios, affirming that the lament was the instrument’s natural habitat. Inthe Dialogo della Maddalena we have applied the same practice to ‘TuleruntDominus meum’, the Magdalene’s narrative of dismay and sorrow at findingChrist’s tomb empty. The eight-part choirs in both works reflect upon andamplify the emotional outpourings of the participants, and are monumentalin their Baroque rhetoric.

The castrato voice was introduced into the Sistine chapel choir in 1562, andRome became the main centre for the male voice in the 17th century. Sincepapal institutions banned female singers, castrati like Marc'AntonioPasqualini and Loreto Vittori sang women's roles in operas, oratorios, andcantatas. Of the female singers who performed privately, the most famouswere the applauded trio of Leonora Baroni, her sister Caterina, and theirmother Andreana. At the musical ‘academies’ held in their own privatepalace, the motto Delectare et docere was as powerfully evident as in official,papal Rome. These magical performances seduced and entranced their fre-quent distinguished guests, who included members of the Roman nobility,foreign dignitaries, priests, cardinals and Pope Urban VIII himself.

© Erin Headley, 2013

PerformersThe award-winning ensemble Atalante is named in honor of Leonardoda Vinci's friend and pupil Atalante Migliorotti, inventor of the lirone.That magic and hauntingly beautiful bowed instrument has been ErinHeadley's domain for the past 30 years, and is the inspiration for hergroup. In the 17th century the lirone was associated with the sololament, a genre that first appeared during the time of Monteverdi, andreached its culmination in Rome. Atalante's luxurious continuo band oftriple harp, chitarrone, keyboards and lirone accompany a sublimely darkrepertoire that has been languishing in the Vatican Library for 300 years.Atalante has received repeated support from the Arts and HumanitiesResearch Council of Great Brit ain, making it possible to stage and filmtheir repertoire, offering a fully immersive experience to listeners of allkinds. To date Atalante have made four recordings in their seriesReliquie di Roma released by Destino Classics (Nimbus) and have re-ceived the highest critical acclaim. Videos of staged versions with subti-tles can be seen at https://vimeo.com/destinoclassicswww.atalante.co.uk

Jordanian-American soprano Nadine Balbeisi received a bachelor’s de-gree in voice from the University of Michigan, and a further degreefrom the Hochschule für Musik, Cologne where she studied with Bar-bara Schlick. She went on to establish an international solo career inGermany singing oratorio, chamber music and opera, from Baroque tocontemporary. With a particular interest in early music, she co-foundedthe duo Cantar alla Viola with viola da gambist Fernando Marín; severalof their recordings of Spanish and English music are available on Quartzand Destino Classics. Her recordings of Italian laments with Atalante re-ceived outstanding reviews and were hailed by MusicWeb Internationalas Recording of the Year 2011. A prizewinner of the KammeroperSchloss Rheinsberg International Competition, Nadine was alsoawarded a lieder scholarship at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria,and in 2013 she receives the Emerging Artist Award from the Universityof Michigan.

ATALANTE

Theodora Baka was born in Greece and studied at the Larisa Conserva-tory; she later graduated from the University of Music, Drama and Media inHannover with opera and chamber music degrees, and went on to takeprizes at the TECHNI Panhellenic and the Göttingen Handel Society voicecompetitions in 2000 and 2001. She has sung many Baroque opera roles(Monteverdi, Handel, Vivaldi, Caldara and Domenico Scarlatti) in Europe’spremier opera houses, and has most notably recorded with Alan Curtis and IlComplesso Barocco (Virgin Classics). Chamber music and song recitals havetaken her to Europe, Israel and Egypt with ensembles such as Latinatas, Fret-work, Ex Silentio and Atalante. She has also sung and recorded mediaevalmusic (Nell autunno di Bisanzio on Talanton) and traditional Greek songs(Myrtate on Raumklang).

Siobhan Armstrong thinks she’s very fortunate to perform and record 17thcentury opera and chamber music with some of Europe's most prestigioushistorical musicians, and also to play with some of Ireland’s best traditionalmusicians. She performs on a large collection of copies of single and multi-row harps from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the baroque era and isreally happiest accompanying vocal music: from plainchant to polyphony tosean-nós song to early opera. Siobhán also directs The Historical Harp Soci-ety of Ireland. Siobhán was a professional choral singer, played modern harpsand read Music at Trinity College, Dublin in the 1980s, before moving toGermany. She returned to Ireland, in 1998, via Australia and London, andnow lives in Kilkenny. She loves teaching, and cooks whenever she has a freemoment!

Jörg Jacobi studied organ, harpsichord and voice at the Hochschule fürKünste in Bremen. He is a professional keyboard player and composer, andmusic director at Unser Lieben Frauen in Bremen. As a conductor, soloistand continuo specialist, he appears regularly at European music festivals, andhis solo and ensemble recordings are numerous. Recently Jörg was awarded adoctoral fellowship at the Bremen Hochschule to research and write on themusical works of Leopold I. He is founder and editor of Edition Baroque,publishing all of Atalante's repertoire, as well as newly discovered worksthrough his own extensive research. www.edition-baroque.de

Erin Headley is the world’s leading authority on the lirone, that haunt-ingly beautiful bowed string instrument that she re-discovered in 1975.She has spent her life restoring it to its former glory, through countlessperformances and recordings and meticulous research. From her initialdiscovery she went on to record Italian Baroque repertoire with Tragico-media, Les Arts Florissants and other European specialist ensembles forHarmonia Mundi, Virgin, Hyperion, Teldec and Deutsche Grammophon.She is the author of the lirone article in The New Grove Dictionary ofMusic and Musicians, second edition. In 2007 she was awarded a presti-gious UK Arts and Humanities Research Council fellowship in residenceat the University of Southampton, where she is now an honorary fellow.In 2012 she received a Distinguished Alumnus award from Penn StateUniversity, and recently she was musician in residence at Villa I Tatti, Har-vard University's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence. Shedirects the ensemble Atalante, and has devised their recording seriesReliquie di Roma on Destino Classics (www.destinoclassics.com)

RESURGAMResurgam makes a unique and distinctive contribution to Ireland’smusical life, and is widely acknowledged to be one of the country’s mostaccomplished vocal ensembles. The choir was established in 2003 and isa project-based ensemble of up to 32 voices comprising some of Ire-land’s finest choral singers. A particular feature of the choir’s work is thepresentation of the great sacred repertoire of the renaissance andbaroque periods, frequently in partnership with the Irish Baroque Or-chestra, with whom the group enjoys a special and ongoing relationship.Resurgam has performed in many venues throughout Ireland and also inthe UK, and has featured in several major Irish festivals, including theCork International Choral Festival, Ardee Baroque and the Galway EarlyMusic Festival. The choir has worked with many internationallyrenowned conductors, including Christophe Rousset, Laurence Cum-mings, Christian Curnyn and Gary Cooper, as well as its own founder-director Mark Duley.

Website: www.resurgam.ie Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UZ_5rhTwuk

Mark Duley, director of Resurgam, was born in New Zealand. Hestudied at Auckland University, the North German Organ Academy andAmsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium, where he was a pupil of Jacquesvan Oortmerssen. He came to Ireland in 1992 as organist and director ofmusic at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, a post he held for elevenyears. For ten years he was also artistic director of the Irish Baroque Or-chestra: he co-founded the ensemble in 1996, and over the ensuing pe-riod ensured its establishment as Ireland’s flagship baroque ensemble.

Mark now pursues a busy freelance career both in Ireland and furtherafield. As both conductor and organist he has appeared with most of themajor Irish ensembles, including RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra,RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the National Chamber Choir, the Irish BaroqueOrchestra, Opera Theatre Company, and his own professional choirResurgam. He has performed at many of Ireland’s premiere festivals, in-cluding the Wexford Opera Festival, the Cork International Choral Festi-val, the Kilkenny Arts Festival and the East Cork Early Music Festival.

RESURGAM SINGERS AND SOLOISTS

SopranoCatherine Redding (Angel 1 solo in Dialogo della Maddalena)Deirdre Moynihan (Angel 2 solo in Dialogo della Maddalena)Aisling KennySusanne Savage

AltoJon Lycett

TenorEamonn Mulhall (David solo in Lamento di David)John McKeown

BassNathan Morrison (Nuntio solo in Lamento di David)Eunan McDonald (Testo solo in Lamento di David)

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