After 400 years, the Fieri Consort reveal the newly-discovered madrigals of Maddalena Casulana alongside works by another of Italy’s greatest composers, Barbara Strozzi.
In one of the most important discoveries of recent years, the lost Alto partbook of Maddalena Casulana’s 1583 First Book of five-voice madrigals has been found. Living at a time in which women’s creativity was often stifled, Casulana (1544-1590) and her compatriot Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) were only too aware their music would be judged inferior to men’s. To mark International Women’s Day, this concert presents Casulana’s madrigals as a fresh perspective on Strozzi’s works, celebrating both composers’ skill with words and music.
Fieri will present this programme in collaboration with musicologist, Professor Laurie Stras.
Casulana (from the dedication in her first book of 1566):
‘these first fruits of mine, flawed as they are…show the world the futile error of men who believe themselves patrons of the high gifts of intellect, which according to them cannot also be held in the same way by women’
In partnership with BBC Radio 3 - this concert will be broadcast live.