A Harmony of Friends
Music of Italy and China
October 2-4, 2009
By 1610, Italian musicians were well on their way to creating the adventurous new style we now call Baroque. Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, author of An Essay on Friendship , died that year after spending 20 years in China. In this season-opening concert, the Folger Consort and guest artists join in a speculative reconstruction of a musical evening Ricci and his Chinese friends may have enjoyed in Beijing. Our program includes Italian song and brilliant instrumental music by Francesca Caccini (the first woman to compose an opera), Sigismundo d’India, Biagio Marini, and others, along with music from China performed by guest virtuoso pipa (a short-necked Chinese lute) player Yang Wei.
Folger Consort
Robert Eisenstein--viola, viola da gamba
Christopher Kendall--theorbo
Guest Artists
Risa Browder--violin
Joelle Greenleaf--soprano
Elizabeth Hungerford--soprano
Adam Pearl--harpsichord, organ
Yang Wei--pipa
