Giddens, Dvorák, Price
Ragazze Quartet

Ragazze Quartet

Rosa Arnold, violin
Ruña ’t Hart, violin
Annemijn Bergkotte, viola
Rebecca Wise, cello

OPENING GREETINGS

Rhiannon Giddens (1977)
At the Purchaser’s Option

Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904)
Selection from String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 “American” (mov. I, IV)

Florence Price (1887–1953)
Selection from String Quartet in A minor No. 2 (mov. II, III)

30’ | By invitation only

Trame Sonore opens its thirteenth edition with the outstanding Ragazze Quartet, one of the freshest and most authoritative voices on the international classical music scene, appearing for the first time at the Trame Sonore Festival. True to their cosmopolitan vocation, the performers will lead the audience of the Sala degli Specchi on a journey into the American soul, traversing its sonic landscapes and deep memories with overwhelming energy.

The program begins with the music of Rhiannon Giddens, who transforms the suffering of African American slavery into an intense song of resilience. It continues with Antonín Dvořák, the Bohemian composer who, during his stay in the United States, was able to absorb and rework influences drawn from folk songs as well as from the sounds and landscapes of the Midwest. The program closes with the extraordinary music of Florence Price, an African American pioneer who fused the elegance of the classical tradition with the energy of popular idioms, including the juba, a rhythmic practice based on body percussion.

A concert that opens the festival in the spirit of cultural encounter, reaffirming the openness and international outlook that have always defined Trame Sonore.

Text by Antonio Pio Caliendo