Music for a While
Antonioli

Antonella Antonioli, voice and harpsichord

Homage to John Dowland on the 400th anniversary of his death

Music by Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), John Dowland (1563–1626), Henry Purcell (1659–1695), and Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677)

30' | Admission included with museum ticket

On the 400th anniversary of John Dowland’s death, the Sala dei Fiumi is transformed into a Baroque salon where Elizabethan England meets seventeenth-century Italy. The program explores the fascination of melancholy and amorous torment, themes that united composers across all geographical boundaries.

At the center of the concert is Antonella Antonioli, a versatile musician who revives the ancient tradition of Baroque masters by simultaneously singing and accompanying herself on the harpsichord. A recurring and highly regarded performer at Trame Sonore, she has in recent years strengthened her reputation as an expert in chamber vocal repertoire, praised for her ability to make early music feel immediate and intimate.

Through her performances, Antonioli evokes the performance practices of Renaissance courts, combining technical challenge with absolute control of breath and touch. The program ranges from Dowland’s famous ayres, such as the celebrated Flow, My Tears, to the dramatic passions of Monteverdi and the expressive intensity of Barbara Strozzi. If Dowland is the master of “happy melancholy,” his music speaking timelessly of longing and love’s afflictions, Monteverdi and Strozzi portray love as both torment and sweetness through theatrical, emotionally direct melodies. The magic of Henry Purcell — whose music becomes a remedy for the soul, momentarily suspending all sorrow — closes an evening that celebrates the voice while preserving the harmonic guidance and refined nuance of the European Baroque tradition.

Text by Valeria Del Giorno