BYDGOSZCZ BAROQUE SCENE 2026:

Lamento d’Arianna – Music of the Italian Renaissance

Collegium Copernicanum UKW Concert Hall, 1 Kopernika St.
November 8, 2026, 6:00 p.m.

Tickets: https://biletigo.pl/e/bsb2026-piekielny-waz?fbclid=IwY2xjawVGttVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR48NLfRF6L8Cf3Wy7E8R7Sq_xJ2iX_YfmVWx2ZGYbfP4xXWgR46HdAJVWiw1A_aem_4QGlFL09Fe4jtLCkrZzEhQ

PERFORMERS
The Profeti della Quinta ensemble, featuring:
Doron Schleifer – countertenor
Andrea Gavagnin – countertenor
Lior Leibovici – tenor
Loïc Pauliniolone – tenor
Elam Rotem – bass, artistic director
Rui Staehlinlety – theorbo

PROGRAM
- Luzzascho Luzzaschi (1545–1607): Io veggio pur pietate; Morir non puo’l mio core
- Cipriano de Rore (ca. 1515–1565): Ancor che col partire; Datemi pace
- Alessandro Piccinini (1566–1638): Toccata III. Chromatica
- Luzzascho Luzzaschi: Deh, non cantar; Quivi sospiri
- Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613): Occhi, del mio cor vita
- Scipione Lacorcia (1585?–1620?): Ahi, tu piangi
- Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643): Lamento della ninfa
- Girolamo Kapsberger (1566–c. 1638): Passacaglia
- Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento d’Arianna
- Claudio Monteverdi: Zefiro torna e’l bel tempo rimena

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The program takes the listener on a journey through time and space to 16th- and early 17th-century Italy, tracing the development of the secular vocal genre known as the madrigal. Artistically speaking, the Italian madrigal was one of the most important musical genres of the Renaissance, providing a framework within which composers could freely experiment with new musical means for presenting the text —means that would not have been appropriate, or even permitted, in motets or masses. The innovative expression of poetry and its moods, pioneered in the madrigals of Cipriano de Rore (c. 1515–1565), and later known as “seconda prattica,” paved the way for the emergence of a new musical language and the first operas.

We begin, therefore, with Cipriano de Rore, known as “il divino,” whose madrigals strike a balance between the Renaissance ideal of pure sonic beauty and new, experimental ways of expressing poetry. De Rore’s setting of Petrarch’s sonnet “Datemi pace” is a perfect example of his extraordinary musical language: beautiful, surprising, and at times bizarre, even to a contemporary listener. De Rore was the musical mentor of many important composers of subsequent generations, such as Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. 1545–1607), who was active at the court of Ferrara—one of Italy’s leading Renaissance courts in the fields of music and poetry. As a young man, Luzzaschi studied under de Rore and continued to explore his teacher’s innovative musical ideas. This is clearly evident in Luzzaschi’s piece “Quivi sospiri,” a rare example of a musical adaptation of Dante’s *Divine Comedy*.

Don Carlo Gesualdo (1560–1613), a nobleman and self-taught composer, studied under Luzzaschi for a time. Contemporaries described Gesualdo as “madly fascinated by music,” and a certain touch of madness is quite evident in his chromatic and avant-garde madrigals. They convey the poetry very effectively, sometimes at the expense of pure musical beauty. Gesualdo was not the only composer to employ such extreme musical devices, but rather a member of a circle of composers who pushed the boundaries of the madrigal genre in a distinctly Mannerist way. A virtually unknown composer of the same school is Scipione Lacorcia (1585?–1620?), who went even further than Gesualdo. The madrigal “Ahi, tu piangi” might lead listeners to believe it was composed in the 20th century. The pace at which Lacorcia jumps between extremely dissonant harmonies is truly shocking.

Our program concludes with three works by Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), which demonstrate how, under his influence, the madrigal genre was transformed into the realm of musical drama. Most striking are two of Monteverdi’s laments: the epic “Lamento d’Arianna,” the only surviving fragment of his lost opera *L’Arianna*, which the composer himself arranged for five voices and basso continuo; and the famous “Lamento della Ninfa,” which could easily be an operatic scene depicting an abandoned girl.

Interestingly, in 1600, Monteverdi faced criticism from the music theorist Giovanni Artusi, who claimed that his madrigals were primitive and contrary to the natural principles of music. Cesare Monteverdi, the composer’s brother, responded to this attack by stating that Monteverdi was simply following the path laid out by the “divine” Cipriano de Rore. He argued that it was de Rore who pioneered this new approach to music: the text and its expression dictate how the music should be composed and how sharp or gentle it should be. Through this program, the artists aim to show the audience how generations of madrigal composers, from de Rore to Monteverdi, implemented this shared and enduringly relevant artistic approach: expressing poetry through music in the most faithful and moving way possible.

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BYDGOSZCZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL 2026: Lamento d’Arianna — Music of the Italian Renaissance

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