March 17, 2015
TENET PRESENTS “THE SECRET LOVER”
TENET:
Jolle Greenleaf, Molly Quinn, Virginia Warnken
TENET: Jolle Greenleaf, Molly Quinn, Virginia Warnken

New York’s leading early music ensemble TENET brings its acclaimed 2014-15 concert series to a close with The Secret Lover, a program that celebrates music by, for, and about women and pays tribute to the 17th century Concerto delle donne, the trio of extraordinarily gifted professional female singers who were renowned for their performances in the courts of the late Italian Renaissance. Three of TENET’s own leading ladies – sopranos Jolle Greenleaf and Molly Quinn, and mezzo-soprano Virginia Warnken – present The Secret Lover, the translation of composer Barbara Strozzi’s cantata L’amante segreto, on Saturday, April 18 at the Fabbri Mansion at the House of the Redeemer on New York City’s Upper East Side. There will be two performances, one in the afternoon and one in the evening.

The Concerto delle donne revolutionized the role of female performers in the 17th century. They were praised for their artistry and inspired composers throughout the country, including Luigi Rossi, Domenico Mazzocchi and Claudio Monteverdi as well as female composers such as Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini. The virtuosas’ style was florid and filled with ornaments, a signature of close-harmony 17th-century Italian vocal style. They were frequently invited by the Duke of Ferrara to perform for the inner circle of the Este court, in concerts that were shrouded in mystery and known as musica secreta, or “secret music.”

During the artistically flourishing Italian Renaissance, there was widespread awareness yet only partial acceptance of the many women who were composing and performing at the time. Some lived and worked in the courts, others in convents which often provided a greater degree of artistic freedom. However they expressed themselves, these women contributed significantly to the world of music in their day.

With The Secret Lover, TENET honors the spirit and spiritedness of these pioneering women with a semi-staged performance featuring solos and trios that weave a story thread to create a musical portrayal of three women and their complex emotional lives. Performing selections from the program this past January as part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Grand Tour, The New Yorker’s Alex Ross singled out the musicians of TENET for “exuberant, subversive counterpoint” to Gallery 621’s somber paintings, and praised “a rollicking, foot-tapping finale,” saying, “I would happily have followed them around the museum for another couple of hours.” An additional 21st century tribute, TENET has commissioned a new work by Caroline Shaw, which they will perform alongside music by Caccini, Rossi, Strozzi and others.

Following the performance, at the end of April, TENET will record The Secret Lover for release on AVIE Records in the summer of 2015. 

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For further information, image or interview requests please contact Melanne Mueller, MusicCo International, 917 907 2785, melanne@musiccointernational.com

For further information about TENET, please visit http://www.tenetnyc.com

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The Secret Lover
Saturday, April 18, 2015 – 3:30 pm and 7:00 pm
Domenico Mazzocchi (1592-1665) Fortuna su’l volto
Luigi Rossi (1597 – 1653) Fan battaglia
Francesca Caccini (1587 – after 1641) Chi desia di saper
Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677) Amor dormiglione
Strozzi Amor non si fugge
Sigismondo D’India (c. 1582-1629) Piangono al pianger mio
Strozzi Eraclito Amoroso (Udite amanti)
Rossi Disperate speranze
Rossi Piango, prego, e sospiro
Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1607) T’amo mia vita
Strozzi Le tre grazie a venere
Caccini Dispiegata guancie amate
Anonymous Passacaglia della vita (O come t’inganni), from Canzonette spirituali, e morali (Milan 1677)
Caccini Nube gentil
Strozzi L’Amante segreto
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) New trio commissioned by TENET
Edith Fabbri Mansion
House of the Redeemer

7 East 95th Street
New York, NY 10128
Jolle Greenleaf and Molly Quinn sopranos 
Virginia Warnken mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey Grossman harpsichord
Josh Lee viola da gamba
Hank Heijink, Daniel Swenberg and Charles Weaver theorbo and guitar

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