Overview

A cycle of early music performances dedicated to women who left their imprint on musical creation and practice.

The court of Isabella d’Este (1474-1539) was the literary and artistic centre of Italy in the early 16th century. Scholars and artists that were part of her court at various times include Ludovico Ariosto, Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian, to mention but a few. The first printed publications of secular music by Ottaviano Petrucci were based on the works of two musicians who had also tutored Isabella d’Este: Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara. The programme is based on their frottole for solo voice with instrumental accompaniment (a harbinger of the monody of Baroque music), interspersed with works of that period for solo lute or for viola da gamba and lute. At the same time, works of art created in her court by great painters are screened.