Christ Church Cathedral
GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
Artists: Profeti della Quinta, directed by Elam Rotem
At the dawn of the 17th century, two composers employed by the House of Gonzaga in Mantua signaled the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque era: Salomone Rossi (ca. 1570-ca. 1630) and Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). Both progressed with time and musical taste, and pioneered the “new” musical style with basso continuo. Moreover, they must have known each other personally and made music together: Rossi, who was Jewish, played at court where Monteverdi was the “Maestro della musica”, and the two collaborated in composing an Intermedio for the Gonzagas. Rossi’s sister, known as “Madama Europa”, was a singer who performed in Monteverdi’s opera L’Arianna and probably in other works of his as well.
This concert is generously sponsored by Birgit Westergaard & Norman Gladstone
There will be a post-concert talk and Q & A with Elam Rotem hosted by Suzie LeBlanc, C.M.
View the full concert programme here.
PROGRAMME
Salomone Rossi (ca. 1570-ca. 1630)
Lamnatséaḥ ‘al hagitít, Psalm 8
Elohím hashivénu, Psalm 80:4, 8, 20
Shir hama’alót, ashréy kol yeré Adonái, Psalm 128
Hashkivénu, Abendgebet
Ori Harmelin (b. 1981)
Variations on ‘La Monica’
Salomone Rossi
Cor mio, deh non languire
Udite, lacrimosi spirti d’averno
Mizmór letodá Psalm 100
Haleluyáh, Halelì nafshì ‘et ‘adonái Psalm 146
Luzzascho Luzzaschi (1545-1607)
lo veggio pur pietate
Morir non puo’l mio core
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Lamento della ninfa
Ori Harmelin
Passacaglia
Claudio Monteverdi
Lamento d’Arianna
Zefiro torna e’l bel tempo rimena
PROGRAMME NOTES
Our program brings together the music of two colleagues: the famous Claudio Monteverdi and the Jewish Salomone Rossi. They worked together as composers and performers at the Gonzaga court in Mantua at the beginning of the 17th century.
In most cities in Europe, Jewish people were rarely taking part in the arts. In Mantua, however, the situation was special: many Jewish people were professional dancers, actors, and musicians, and they took regular part in events organized by the city court. Salomone Rossi was a distinct figure in this regard, and being so appreciated by the court, he was one of only two Jews in Mantova that were exempt from wearing the obligatory Jewish identification badge. Thanks to his reputation, he managed to publish no less than 14 books of music; four books of instrumental music, nine books of Italian secular music (within which we find six books of madrigals, and one book each of canzonette, balletti, and madrigaletti), and the exceptional publication of sacred music in Hebrew (Hashirim asher liShlomo/The songs of Salomon, Venice 1622/3).
It was thanks to his many Jewish musician colleagues that Rossi was able to try and revolutionize the music of the synagogue. The same musicians that sang in the palace were available to him in the Synagogue, and so, he could use the “Western” musical standards when setting and then performing Jewish liturgical texts. Rossi and his supporters wished to spread this new tradition outside of Mantua and did so by printing (for the first time in music history) Rossi’s Jewish liturgical polyphony. But since in other Jewish communities there were no professional Jewish musicians, this music only lived as long as the community in Mantua lived. Sadly, in the war and plague of the late 1620s, the Jewish Ghetto of Mantova was destroyed and the community dispersed. It is most likely that Rossi died around that time, and with him and with the Jewish community of Mantua, also his revolutionary music in Hebrew.
But Rossi’s Jewish music is not the only innovative aspect of his works. For example, in his first book of madrigals (1600) he added a chitarrone tablature as an accompaniment part. Apart from being the earliest printed chitarrone intabulation, when performed with only singer (as in Cor mio, deh non languire in our program) the music sounds very similar to the monodic music of the famous Giulio Caccini, who claimed to be the inventor of such a style. Rossi’s instrumental music, with its trio structure (two upper parts, typically violins, and basso continuo, typically a chitarrone or two), set the standards for dozens of instrumental music publications in the 17th century.
In the court of the Gonzaga, Rossi must have often worked closely with Monteverdi. Both composed a great number of madrigals, using lyrics by the same poets, in which they explored the expression of poetry in music. Both progressed with time and musical taste, and pioneered the “new” musical style with basso continuo. The two collaborated as composers on different occasions in the court, and Rossi’s sister, known as “Madama Europa”, was a singer who performed in Monteverdi’s opera L’Arianna and probably in other works of his as well. Moreover, there is a great musical resemblance between the instrumental sinfonias found in Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Rossi’s published sinfonias from the same period. It might be that Rossi composed some of the instrumental music and was not credited, or that the two shared many of the ideas of how such music should be composed. Regardless of the compositional aspect, it is almost certain that Rossi took part in the performances of Monteverdi’s productions.
Monteverdi’s music, rightfully so, is famous for being especially expressive and theatrical. In our program this is clearly demonstrated in the two laments: the Lamento della ninfa and the Lamento d’Arianna. The first is a standalone act of an abandoned nymph accompanied by three shepherds who both set the scene and comment on her situation (“miserella!” – “oh poor one!”). The lament of Arianna, on the other hand, is the only surviving part from the lost opera by Monteverdi Arianna (1608). The lament, originally written for one soprano and accompaniment, was arranged by Monteverdi himself for five voices and basso continuo (6th book of madrigals, 1614). In this piece, the contrasts in Arianna’s emotions – sometimes calling Theseus with love (“O Teseo, O Teseo mio”) and sometimes cursing him in rage – are expressed in the music in an unapologetic way.
In addition to the music of Rossi and Monteverdi, we include two madrigals by Luzzascho Luzzaschi, an extremely important composer from the generation just before who worked in Ferrara. Apart from writing especially refined music, Luzzaschi, being a student of Rore and teacher of many (among them the famous Gesualdo) played an important role in the development of the madrigal genre.
With this program we invite you to enter the diverse musical soundscape of early 17th-century Mantua: passionate madrigals alongside sacred Jewish prayers. One can easily imagine the Jewish musicians starting the day with a prayer in the synagogue, and later on going to sing and play in the palace.
- Notes by Elam Rotem
Profeti della Quinta
Ensemble Profeti Della Quinta focuses on the vocal repertoire of the 16th and early 17th centuries. They create vivid and expressive performances for audiences today while considering period performance practices. From its core of five male singers, the ensemble collaborates regularly with instrumentalists and guest singers. Their programmes range from explorations of the Italian madrigal to seldom-heard Jewish sacred music and more. In 2011 the ensemble won the York Early Music Young Artists Competition and has since performed in Europe, Israel, North America, China and Japan.They have released 10 albums on the Pan Classics, tiroler landes museen, Glossa, and LINN labels. Originally from the Galilee region of Israel, the group is now based in Basel, Switzerland, where they regularly collaborate with the Schola Cantorum.
Elam Rotem, music director
Profeti’s founder and musical director, Elam Rotem, is also the founder of earlymusicsources.com, an essential resource for early music manuscripts and scholarship.
Rotem was born in 1984 in Sdot Yam, Israel. During his studies at Kibbutz Kabri High School, he set up a vocal quintet with fellow scholars. This ensemble went on to become Profeti della Quinta which now performs regularly throughout Europe, North America, Israel and further abroad. Rotem studied for a Bachelor’s degree in harpsichord at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and studied for advanced degrees in basso continuo, improvisation and composition at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He went on to complete his PhD in 2016 through Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in a joint programme with the University of Würzburg, Germany. Rotem specializes in the musical style of the 16th and 17th centuries in Italy, and his ensemble, Profeti Della Quinta, is known worldwide for their performances of the music of Jewish composer Salomone Rossi, who was the first composer to use the Western-Christian musical language to compose Hebrew prayers and psalms (The Songs of Solomon, 1623).
