The Eternal Flame

Love songs from 17th century rome

concert in The Royal Chapel at Drottningholm

17 november 16.00

Music by Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643), Giulio Caccini (1551-1618), Stefano Landi (1587-1639) et al

Luciana Mancini, mezzo soprano
Andrés Locatelli, musical direction

Elin Gabrielsson, violin
Rebecka Karlsson, violin
Johannes Rostamo, cello
Leon Jänicke, theorbo and baroque guitar
Jonas Nordberg, arch lute
Andrés Locatelli, recorder
Julio Caballero Pérez, harpsichord

Listening to music from the distant past offers a rare opportunity to immerse ourselves in the history of human emotion. How were individual and collective feelings experienced, described, expressed, and performed across the centuries? Since the early modern era, civilization has evolved rapidly: what has changed in how we live and understand our emotions today, and what has remained the same?

In a renowned passage from Purgatorio, Dante senses the presence of his beloved Beatrice as "the traces of an ancient fire." This choice of words not only echoes Dido’s feelings for the Trojan hero in The Aeneid, but also acknowledges the timeless essence of love, both as a supernatural force and a state of the soul. Many centuries have passed since Virgil and Dante, yet this rich constellation of emotions —this eternal flame — burns once and again in every romance and unrequited love story, throughout the history of art and music.

Tonight’s concert is an archaeological journey into ancient emotional landscapes, a tribute to the music of 17th-century Rome. The Eternal City, home to some of history’s most celebrated musicians, has continually risen from its ruins, keeping the fire of its millenary tradition burning through the most innovative forms of expression.

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Chilean-Swedish mezzo soprano Luciana Mancini’s repertoire spans from the Renaissance and Baroque to Berio and Piazzolla. The season 2024-25 she returns to MusikTheater an der Wien to reprise her signature role of Maria in Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and to appear in Combattimenti, a new pastiche with music by Monteverdi. She performs Messagiera/Orfeo with Christina Pluhar at Mozartwochen Salzburg and Ottavia/Virtù in Ted Huffman’s production of L’incoronazine di Poppea with Nederlandse Reisopera. With Le Poème Harmonique she tours as Nerone inL’incoronazione di Poppea in Colombia. In concert she performs various programs with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata throughout Europe and Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Collegium 1704 and Vaclav Luks. Luciana sang Hermia in The Fairy Queen at Drottningholms Slottsteater 2023.

Andrés Locatelli is Italian-Argentinean musician and musicologist based in Switzerland. As a recorder player, he has collaborated extensively with some of the most celebrated early music orchestras and ensembles across Europe. Since January 2024, he is instructor of the Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies program at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. As conductor and musical director, Andrés is particularly interested in sacred and secular polyphonic music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, 17th-century opera, and experimental interdisciplinary projects based on early music. Andrés is member of the Drottningholm Theatre Orchestra.

Sunday 17 November 2024 at 16.00

In the Royal Chapel, Drottningholm

Tickets

Unnumbered seats
All seats 295 SEK
Under 26 years 145 SEK

The Royal Chapel is located in the northern part of Drottningholm Palace. Architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger completed the construction at the beginning of the 18th century according to his father's (Tessin the Elder) drawings. The interior works were carried out under the direction of Carl Hårleman. The church was consecrated in 1730. Some additional work was done in 1740 and in May 1746 the church was re-consecrated. At that time, Princess Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia had already received Drottningholm Castle as a wedding present when she married the Swedish heir to the throne, Adolf Fredrik.