​KirstiConsort

Audita Est Vox - your voice is heard - is one of the many cantatas composed by Isabella Leonarda, one of the most productive composers of her time, whose 400th birthday we would have celebrated in 2020 if the world wide pandemia wouldn't have stopped live concerts. Leonarda was a nun in Sant'Orsola's convent in Italy and she dedicated most of her works to God or Maria. Although her composing style remained more conservative compared to her contemporaries, her works stand out because of their expressiveness and uniqueness.

Besides Leonarda's cantata, another rare pearl of the programme is the Aria for two violins and continuo by Giovanni Valentini, a celebrated Italian composer in his time but unfortunately almost forgotten in later days. The melody and the bass line of the aria is based on an old choral of which many composers made their versions. Two better known fellow Italian composers in the programme, Giovanni Battista Bassani and Antonio Caldara, were both virtuosic instrumentalists who also wrote highly demanding vocal music. In Bassani's cantata the singer gets to shine and show her flexibility, but Bassani's first trio sonata gives a chance for the instrumentalists to bring their true skills to the fore. With the kind support of the Fonds Podiumkunsten, KirstiConsort is able once again to take the Italian sunshine into the concert hall.