Il Divino Claudio
Flowers are still laid on Claudio Monteverdi's grave in Venice to this day. More than 400 years ago, 'Il Divino Claudio' was born in Cremona; we celebrate that today. The music in this program, with two top vocal soloists, comes from the turn of the century from the 16th to the 17th century, the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque, and a musically interesting and turbulent time!
Monteverdi is considered the greatest master of this period. Many musicians work at the courts of the major city-states (such as Ferrara, Florence, Mantua, and Venice) and the papal residence in Rome. The singers, in particular, were the pride of the courts and performed on special occasions for high visitors. An important point of discussion concerns vocal music. People feel that music dominates the text, and they look for a form that better expresses the effects of the text. This led to the publication of many editions with compositions for singer(s) and basso continuo and ultimately to the birth of the opera.
Arianna
One of the moved attendees at the first performance of Monteverdi's opera, Arianna, wrote: 'The acting was performed by both gentlemen and ladies who were very skilled in singing. However, Arianna succeeded in the Lamento, and she sang more than admirably in every respect. That was delivered with such feeling and in such a compelling way that no listener was not moved, nor was there one lady who did not shed a few tears in her lamentation.'
