© Zani-Casadio
Dante Vespers
Veni, sponsa de Libano
Purgatorio XXX, 11
17th-century sacred motets for voice, cornett, and basso continuo
Seicento Stravagante
David Brutti cornett
Nicola Lamon organ
Silvia Frigato soprano
music by Nicolò Corradini, Giovanni Martino Cesare, Claudio Monteverdi, Biagio Marini, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Alessandro Grandi, Francesco Cavalli, Andrea Gabrieli, Tarquinio Merula, Luca Marenzio.
Dante describes a vision he had on the late morning of Wednesday, 13 April 1300. It is a woman in a cloud of flowers, and to him it is like daybreak, when a rose colour appears in the East, and a veil of mist allows the eye to look at the sun without harm. The woman wears a white veil crowned with olive boughs, a green cloak and a bright red gown: her face is concealed, but the Poet’s soul feels the mighty power of old love, and recognises his beloved Beatrice. Through a selection of XVII-century sacred motets for voice, cornetto and continuo, the trio Seicento Stravagante will retrace this scene from Canto XXX of Purgatorio, enriched with biblical quotations from the Song of Songs, the Gospels and the Psalms.
