Ensemble “Canto Fiorito” Concert “Monteverdi/Rossi: Music at the Gonzaga Court”

Performers
Ieva Gaidamavičiūtė - soprano
Renata Dubinskaitė - mezzo-soprano
Saulė Šerytė - mezzo-soprano
Povilas Vanžodis - tenor
Nerijus Masevičius - bass
Quentin Guerillot - harpsichord

 

Rodrigo Calveyra - longitudinal flute, cornet, artistic director

 

The international early music ensemble “Canto Fiorito” led by Brazilian artistic director Rodrigo Calveyra is preparing a concert programme “Monteverdi/Rossi: Music in the Gonzaga Court” for its fans and listeners in Vilnius, dedicated to the Italian composer Salomone Rossi (~1570-1630) of Hebrew origin. This Marco Scacchi Festival concert aims to draw attention to the significant intangible phenomena of Hebrew culture that reveal S. Rossi’s work and his Jewish and Italian identity. The concert is intended for both the Lithuanian Jewish community and the general public. This is a great opportunity to get acquainted with the works of S. Rossi, a violinist and composer of Hebrew origin who lived in Italy and created at the junction of the late Renaissance and early Baroque and left a mark in music history.

 

S. Rossi worked in Mantua as the concertmaster of the estate of the famous Gonzaga family alongside the great Italian Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi, who at that time was the kapellmeister in this estate. S. Rossi has been compared to him in his achievements. The musical relationship between the two composers was close - it is known that they not only performed but also composed together. C. Monteverdi wrote instrumental music only for large-scale vocal works. It is believed that S. Rossi composed symphonies and sonatas as instrumental music interludes to C. Monteverdi’s operas or introductions to vocal works. He is regarded as an innovator in the field of instrumental music - he was one of the first composers who applied the principles of monodic song to instrumental work. His collections of madrigals also contributed to the genre’s evolution towards the Baroque style. This programme of the “Canto Fiorito” ensemble was created by the artistic director by juxtaposing the work of two composers - presenting C. Monteverdi’s madrigals created in Mantua and S. Rossi’s vocal and instrumental compositions.