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The

presentsMusica MantovanaThe Birth of the Baroque

Vincenzo I Gonzaga ruled as Duke of Mantua from 1587 until his death in 1612. He was a major patron of the arts and sciences and invested large sums to secure Mantua’s renown as a cultural centre. He awarded court appointments to some of the great minds of the time, including the artist Peter Paul Rubens, the poet Toquato Tasso, and the astronomer Giovanni Antonio Magini, who was also tasked with tutoring his sons. Gonzaga’s fame as a patron drew Galileo Galilei to Mantua to obtain a position, but an agreement was never reached. Mantua became home to some of the greatest composers of the day, including Wert, Viadana, Gastoldi, Rossi, and, of course, Monteverdi. During this time, Monteverdi and Rossi worked closely together, and their innovations are regularly cited as the birth of Baroque Music.

Today, we present a programme revolving around excerpts from Monteverdi’s l’Orfeo, the first opera ever written and still performed today. These are complemented with works by Monteverdi’s contemporaries from the Mantuan Court, including Salomone Rossi and Lodovico Grossi da Viadana.