Tuesday July 27, 2021 | 7:00PM
The Cinematheque

In this concert film, Servir Antico tell the story of Christine de Pizan (1364 – ca.1430), a revolutionary woman who questioned the treatment of women and their prescribed place and role in society in her magnum opus, The Book of the City of Ladies. Though it was heavily criticized at the time, the poet Martin Le Franc, unlike most other men, championed her cause and helped spread awareness of the importance of women as active and multifaceted citizens. The programme is in praise of womankind, with works from the Ars Subtilior, compositions by Baude Cordier and Soulage, and anonymous compositions alongside works by Binchois and Dufay. Catalina Vicens and Servir Antico present this exquisite concert, which was recorded in the medieval chapel of Notre-Dame- à-la-rose in Belgium.

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Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 | 5:00PM
Cinematheque

This program is a tribute to the Venetian composer and singer Barbara Strozzi, one of the most important composers of Italian cantatas and baroque arias. Her sensitivity to text and experimentation with form and style offered nuance and a high level of emotional sensitivity to her music. In 1638, she read both sides of a debate written by Giovanni Francesco Loredano and Matteo Dandolo about whether tears or song is the more powerful weapon in love. Not surprisingly, song won and Strozzi ended the debate by saying: “I do not question your decision, gentlemen, in favor of song, for well I know that I would not have received the honor of your presence at our last session had I invited you to see me cry and not to hear me sing.” This concert will explore Strozzi’s lighter side as well as presenting her famous lament “Lagrime mie”. A rich mix of plucked and string instruments from Iran, Turkey and Italy (two theorbos, baroque guitar, kanun, setar, cello, gamba, viola d’amore and violin) complements the vocal pieces and creates some lively instrumental dances.

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Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 | 3:00PM
Cinematheque

Marrying music with history, this tribute to the Hospitalières is a journey across time, weaving words from the archives of the first Hospitalières with the reflections of today’s nuns on the state of the world. The concert offers insight into the heroic lives of these women and the music from their religious establishments in 17th century France and Quebec. With the magnificent female singers of the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal and the French actress Célia Laguitton as Sister Marie-Ange, this musical and theatrical creation honours the lives of those who took part in the foundation of Montréal and of the Hôtel-Dieu, where the concert was filmed.

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Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 | 1:00PM
Cinematheque

Chiara Margarita Cozzolani has been steadily receiving recognition in recent decades as one of the most skillful and expressive of a handful of published nun composers from seventeenth-century Italy. She took her vows at age 18, adopting “Chiara” as her religious name as she entered the Benedictine monastery of Santa Radegonda, where she would serve as maestra di cappella, abbess, and prioress.

This programme focuses on her 1648 collection of twelve motets for solo soprano, Scherzi di sacra melodia. No copy of the accompanying basso continuo partbook has been found, making the collection inaccessible to performers until now. The bass part for three of the motets was composed from scratch by lutenist Lucas Harris. The concert ends with Non tema nò di morte, a trio from the sole surviving collection of another Italian nun composer, Maria Francesca Nascinbeni. Of Nascinbeni’s life we know little, though in her publication’s preface she casually mentions being only sixteen years old.

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