The Songbird (2012)

Folger Consort performed The Songbird from March 16 to 18, 2012.

Francesca Caccini, known as La Checcina, or the songbird, was one of the guiding spirits behind the revolutionary music of the earliest operas and the brilliant solo songs of the Baroque. Composer of a wide range of solo songs, duets, and stage music, she is perhaps best known for her La Liberazione di Ruggiero, the first opera by a woman, which premiered in 1625.

The Songbird featured Caccini's powerfully dramatic songs as well as works by Monteverdi and other Italian Baroque composers. Folger Consort was joined by soprano Michele Kennedy, harpsichordist Joseph Gascho, and violinist Risa Browder.

Michele Kennedy. Cody Rasmussen.

Artists

Folger Consort

Artistic Directors

• Robert Eisenstein: viola da gamba, violin
• Christopher Kendall: theorbo

Guest artists

• Risa Browder: violin
• Joseph Gascho: organ
• Michele Kennedy: soprano