"Le Donne di Ferrara"


- a recreation of the most illustrious ensemble of the late renaissance: The idolized trio of ladies at the court of Alfonso II in the 1590's, to whom was composed an amazing amount of music.

Composers:
Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Giaches de Wert, Luca Marenzio, Carlo Gesualdo og Claudio Monteverdi

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Website: www.ficta.dk

Singers: Malene Nordtorp · Anne-Christine Wesser Ingels · Rie Koch · Lute: Fredrik Bock · Viola da gamba: Hanna Loftsdóttir · Introduced by Bo Holten

In enchanting renaissance Ferrara a brilliant tradition of singing and composing ladies took flight. In the beginning it was only the ladies at court performing, but soon, in the last decades of the 16th century, a professional group was employed, and very high artistic levels were reached. Their fame as Le Donne di Ferrrara reached all musical circles of Europe. Great performers like Laura Peverara and Tarquinia Molza were the names of the day, and this resulted in a stream of fantastic compositions, especially written for these women.

In Musica Ficta we now devote ourselves to recreating this rare tradition. Not only do we want to absorb and perform many of these wonderful compositions, but we also wish to employ the extensive use of embellishment, which was the norm of the day. It was also normal use to illustrate the music with suggestive movements, thus giving a visualization of the ever-changing emotions of the music. Trying to attain this, it is obvious also to add costumes and other conditions of performance which were typical of the legendary Ferrara ladies. In this way we hope to succeed in recreating not only what these ladies might have sounded like, but also the athmosphere of a performance in Ferrara around 1595 - - thus presenting an imaginary picture from one of the most spectacular flowerings in European cultural history.

The composer names are Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Giaches de Wert, Luca Marenzio, Carlo Gesualdo og Claudio Monteverdi. Never were Italian music more beguilingly melodic intelligent, humoristic and, not least, dramatic.

From Musica Ficta's clever stock of singers, three of our most brilliant "donne" will be performing: Malene Nordtorp, Ann-Christine Wesser Ingels and Rie Koch. The accompaniments are taken care of by the Fredrik Bock (lute) and Hanna Loftsdóttir (viola da gamba) who will also contribute with the occasional solo-piece, as it was typical of practically every evening's entertainment at the music-crazy court of Alfonso II in Ferrara in the 1590's. Bo Holten

From a performance at the Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Oct. 2007.
Photo Eva Sommestad Holten.

From left: Malene Nordtorp Ann-Christine Wesser Ingels, Rie Koch.