IL GIOCO DELLA CIECA

Concerto di Margherita (Italy) presents madrigals, canzone and villanelle. The ensemble focuses on the historical practice of self-accompanied singing: all five musicians sing and accompany themselves on theorbo, viol, baroque guitar, harp and lute.

Inspired by Guarini’s Il pastor fido, this programme weaves a musical fable of blind love and deceptive sight. Through late Renaissance and early Baroque Italian works, Concerto di Margherita follows an archetypal Lover, wandering from Arcadian innocence into darkness, illusion, and the bittersweet solace of obscurity.

Performers:

Francesca Benetti: theorbo, voice and artistic direction

Giovanna Baviera: viola da gamba and voice

Charlotte Nachtsheim: baroque harp and voice

Jonatan Alvarado: baroque guitar and voice

Rui Staehelin: renaissance lute, theorbo and voice