Ensemble La Cigale is proud to offer the following concert programs for presentation in concert series and festivals. Please contact us for further details.
LA GRAZIA DELLE DONNE (THE GRACE OF WOMEN)—MUSIC OF THE ITALIAN BAROQUE BY WOMAN COMPOSERS AND THE MEN WHO ENCOURAGED THEM
(6 musicians: soprano, recorders, Baroque violin, lute and theorbo, Baroque harp, viola da gamba)
“Who does not know that without women we can feel no content or satisfaction throughout this life of ours, which but for them would be rude and devoid of all sweetness and more savage than that of wild beasts? Who does not know that women alone banish from our hearts all vile and base thoughts, vexations, miseries, and those turbid melancholies that so often are their fellows?”—Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier (1528)
La Cigale proposes a celebration of femininity with a program of Italian music of the Baroque. The program features works by master women composers: Barbara Strozzi, Francesca and Settima Caccini, Vittoria Aleotti and Isabella Leonarda; as well as pieces by some of the men who encouraged feminine creativity: Giulio Caccini and Antonio Vivaldi.
Video excerpts (recorded live in concert):
Purpurei Flores—Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704)
Hor che la vaga aurora—Vittoria Aleotti (c. 1575–after 1620)
Udite Amanti—Giulio Caccini (1551–1618)
UP IN THE MORNING EARLY—BAROQUE MUSIC FROM CELTIC COUNTRIES
(5 or 4 musicians: recorders and/or Baroque violin, lute and theorbo, Baroque harp, viola da gamba)
La Cigale is pleased to offer Up in the Morning Early, a program of Celtic instrumental music of the Baroque. Discover works of the 17th and 18th centuries played on period instruments. The program explores a wide variety of music, from masterpieces by the famous harpist Turlough Carolan to variations on traditional melodies, from Scottish pieces for the lute to works in the Celtic style by Italian composers active in the British Isles, as well as arrangements by the musicians of La Cigale.
Video excerpts:
Bob Jordan—Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738)
The Fairy Queen—Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738)
The Narcissus (Air and Giga)—James Oswald (1710–1769)
TIORBA OBBLIGATA—ITALIAN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC OF THE EARLY BAROQUE
(5 or 4 musicians: recorders and/or Baroque violin, theorbo, Baroque harp, viola da gamba)
In this colorful and dramatic program, La Cigale presents Italian instrumental music of the early Baroque written for the theorbo as an obbligato instrument. This is a rarely performed repertoire but one which is very accessible to the public. The Italian composers of the 17th century wrote masterpieces of stunning virtuosity and expressivity for the instruments of La Cigale. The pieces on the program contrast the popular and formal musical styles of this music which integrates sophisticated writing with free improvisation. The concert includes works by Kapsberger, Piccinini and Pittoni Ferrarese.
Video excerpts:
Sonata in e minor, Giga—Giovanni Pittoni Ferrarese (1635–1677)
Additional programs are available upon request.