Venetian Baroque: Celebrating Barbara Strozzi

La Donna Musicale presents “Venetian Baroque: Celebrating Barbara Strozzi”

Born four centuries ago, the composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was at the heart of the unique and thriving musical culture of Venice. Taught by Francesco Cavalli, the city’s most prominent composer, she and Antonia Bembo (ca. 1640-1720) found distinctive ways to sing and to create extraordinarily passionate music. The program includes captivating songs and powerful laments by Barbara Strozzi from several of her eight published books, as well as arias from Antonia Bembo’s book Produzione armoniche and from Francesco Cavalli’s L’Artemisia.

Combining stirring performances with groundbreaking scholarship, this award-winning ensemble, led by 2009 Radcliffe Institute Fellow and Brandeis University Resident Scholar Laury Gutiérrez, brings to life music by female composers nearly forgotten by history, vibrant works that have either been long overlooked or only recently discovered – passionate arias, moving laments, and delightful instrumental music.

This performance is being funded by the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library.