DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI- Piangete occhi, piangete

DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI - Quemadmodum desiderat cervus

DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI - Misura altri

LUIGI ROSSI - Lamento di Zaïda

LUIGI ROSSI - A piè del sanguinoso tronco

MARCO MARAZZOLI - Piango la tua sventura

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI - Lamento d'Arianna

DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI - Dialogo de la Maddalena

MARCO MARAZZOLI - Oratorio Di Santa Caterina (highlights)

I. All Roads Lead to Rome and Some Roads Come from Mantua Adriana Basile (1586–after c.1642) was a celebrated singer at the Gonzaga court in Mantua from 1610 to 1626 under Claudio Monteverdi. During that time, she also traveled with her family around Italy, including Florence where they stayed as guests in the house of Giulio Caccini. He must have introduced Adriana to the lirone which he learned to play with Striggio’s guidance. When the family later moved to Rome, she and her two daughters, also celebrated singers, formed a trio accompanying themselves on the viola da gamba, harp, chitarrone and guitar, with Adriana playing the lirone. She may have partly been responsible for the popularity of the instrument in the Eternal City. While Monteverdi was in Mantua, he composed the opera L’Arianna (1608) of which only the lament has survived. In turn his Lament of Arianna was copied by many composers including a young student in Naples, Luigi Rossi who later became one of Rome’s leading composers. In fact, Monteverdi’s lament was so highly admired and copied by so many composers, that it became the main force behind the craze for laments in Rome. Commentators and theorists praised the lirone for its ability to lift the soul and soothe the misfortunes of the human condition. It’s no wonder that its otherworldly soundscape was so ideal for the Roman lament. We have created numerous videos with images and subtitles that you can feast on now before this second part of the website is available.