La strada del cielo
Johannes Ciconia in the Service of the
Aristocracy of the Italian Middle Ages
Martinská 8, Praha 1
Artists
Alena Dantcheva – soprano
Francesca Cassinari – soprano
Gianluca Ferrarini – tenor
Teodoro Baù – fiddle
Programme
Johannes Ciconia (ca 1370–1412)
O felix templum jubila
Gloria
Credo
Le ray au soleyl
Lizadra donna
Con lagreme bagnandome
Gli atti col dançar
Per quella strada lactea
Gloria „Spiritus et alme“
Anonymous songs
Lamento di Tristano
Constantia
Alleluia Ego sum pastor bonus
Viver ne puis
Ave stella matutina
Annotation
With the Italian ensemble la fonte musica directed by lutist Michele Pasotti, we will set out to explore the late medieval Apennine Peninsula in all its variety. The evening’s main guide will be Johannes Ciconia – the first of the Flemish composers to have a brilliant career in Italy. Ciconia composed for church dignitaries in Rome, the Visconti family in Pavia, the da Carrara family in Padua, and even for the Doge of Venice. He was also able to set to music an aristocratic coat of arms and thereby extol the aristocratic virtues of its holder…
The most important focal areas of spiritual and secular polyphonic practice will be presented by three singers accompanied by a medieval lute and fiddle, covering several typical musical forms – motet, canon, madrigal, ballata, or istampitta. The journey to the stars of the Italian trecento and quattrocento begins in the Church of St. Martin in the Wall on Thursday, July 22.
Venue
Martinská 8, Praha 1
Show on mapPartners of the concert
With the kind support of the Italian Culture Institute in Prague.
Artists
La fonte musica
La fonte musica is an early music ensemble which uses period instruments, founded and led by Michele Pasotti. It has performed in the most prestigious early music festivals around Europe and been broadcast by the best classical music radio stations.
The ensemble receives positive reviews for its “absolute mastery of every aspect of these repertoires”, “phenomenal research”, and “Michele Pasotti’s thrilling energy”.
In 2021, Alpha will release the first complete works of Zacara da Teramo, a 4CD box set named “Enigma Fortuna”.
Its second CD, “Metamorfosi Trecento” (Alpha Classics), won the Diapason d’Or Award and was a finalist at the International Classical Music Awards. In 2018, the Diapason magazine chose “Metamorfosi Trecento” as one of the 100 records that all music lovers need to know.
Its first CD, “Le Ray au Soleyl. Musica alla corte pavese dei Visconti (1360–1410)”, was rated with 5 Diapasons, awarded the Supersonic Award by the Pizzicato magazine, and was a finalist for the Amadeus magazine’s Record of the Year Award.
Michele Pasotti
Medieval lute, artistic director
Michele Pasotti graduated in Lute with the highest honours, studying with Massimo Lonardi, and also gained a degree in Theoretical Philosophy. He is Professor of Lute at the Conservatorio di Musica B. Maderna in Cesena and at Pavia’s Conservatorio F. Vittadini. From 2013 to 2018, he taught an Ars Nova course at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano. He also gives lectures, either on musicological subjects, or to introduce and spread knowledge of the lute and early music.
He is the founder and director of la fonte musica, an ensemble specialising in late medieval music.
He is also regularly invited to conduct vocal ensembles, especially Capella Cracoviensis. He regularly performs with Il Giardino Armonico, Les Musiciens du Louvre, the Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble, Accademia Bizantina, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and Les Musiciens du Prince.
His more than 70 recordings include a work dedicated to the guitarist Francesco Corbetta.
