Italia Mia (1999)

Folger Consort performed Italia Mia from October 15 to October 17, 1999. The expressive madrigals and virtuoso instrumental music of Renaissance Italy were as much a part of the culture as the masterpieces of visual art that we associate with the time. A stellar ensemble of singers presented madrigals by Philippe Verdelot, whose setting of a sonnet by Petrarch inspired the concert's title, as well as lyrical and passionate works by Cipriano de Rore and Monteverdi, acknowledged masters of the genre. Scott Reiss returned to perform elaborate divisions and lively dance music with the Consort and other instrumentalists.

Scott Reiss's "fluid, fluent recorder playing [is] nuanced and wonderfully ornamented but with a spine of steel." Washington Post

Cipriano de Rore – “All madrigal music of the 16th century that lays claim to serious dignity is dependent on Rore ….” Alfred Einstein William Sharp's singing is "robust and characterful...." NY Times

Amanda Balestrieri’s "soprano lines had clarity and shapeliness.” NY Times

Artists

Folger Consort

Artistic Directors

• Robert Eisenstein: viol, violin
• Christopher Kendall: lute

Guest artists

• Scott Reiss: recorders
• Margriet Tindemans: viol
• Amanda Balestrieri: soprano
• Barbara Hollinshead: mezzo-soprano
• Drew Minter: countertenor
• Robert Petillo: tenor
• William Sharp: baritone