About the Event

For the tenth anniversary of its founding in 2011, Seicento will explore the musical interludes composed for a play performed at the wedding of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1589. These Intermedi for La Pellegrina (The Pilgrim Woman), were originally presented as “Florentine spectacle” with elaborate stage designs, and the music composed by six then-famous composers containing florid solo lines (now referred to as monody, the precursor of early Italian opera), choral sections, and instrumental movements.

The six dramatic “intermezzos” deal with the world in the allegorical terms of the period: the “harmony of the spheres,” the competition between the Muses and their upstart mortal challengers who are turned into noisy Magpies (a story recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses), the god Apollo’s victory over the Python of Delphi (after which he became the god of Music through his victory song with lyre), a descent into the demonic regions of hell, the song of Arion (reputed to be the world’s greatest lyre player, saved from the sea by a dolphin), and finally, the triumphant descent from the heavens of the gods Apollo and Bacchus with suitable musical accompaniment.

Artistic Director Amanda Balestrieri will conduct Seicento’s chamber choir and soloists, members of the full Seicento choir, and an ensemble of professional period instrumentalists to bring this ancient entertainment to life for modern audiences.

How to Attend In-Person

 $25 general admission, $22 students/seniors, $18 members