Programme

Before being appointed organist at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Girolamo Frescobaldi studied with the great madrigalist Luzzasco Luzzaschi in his native Ferrara. A renowned virtuoso, Frescobaldi was sought after by courts and rich family all over Italy. In addition to his work at the Vatican, he was part of the musical establishment of Enzo Bentivoglio alongside Alessandro Piccinini, teaching several women of the household to sing, in an attempt to recreate the famous concerto delle dame of Frescobaldi’s native Ferrara. Wishing perhaps to secure Frescobaldi’s continued service as well as to acquire a great vocal talent, Bentivoglio arranged that Frescobaldi should marry the famous Florentine singer Settimia Caccini. This however was thwarted by the Medici (who likewise did not want to lose Caccini) arranging for her to marry instead a musician of their own court.

Frescobaldi temporarily left his position at the Vatican to join the court of the Gonzaga in Mantua as a successor to Claudio Monteverdi – where, incidentally, he would work with Settimia Caccini and her husband – and again later to work for the powerful Medici family in Florence, where he encountered some of Italy’s finest musicians, working again with Settimia as well perhaps as her sister Francesca, renowned for her magnificent voice and subtle lute playing, and whose remarkable monodies have come down to us.

Throughout his career and in particular during his final decade in Rome, Frescobaldi was in high demand as a teacher. His best-known student is certainly Johann Jakob Froberger, who after being appointed organist at the imperial court in Vienna, was sent to Rome for training. There, he lived with and studied under Frescobaldi for three years before returning to Vienna.

Join us as we follow in the footsteps of one of the emblematic composers of the early Baroque in Italy.

Artists

Julie Rivest, violin
Étienne Asselin, cornetto
Maximilien Brisson, trombone
Margaret Little, viola da gamba
Christophe Gauthier, harpsichord

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