Barbara Strozzi, film, Pinchgut Opera
Take flight through a series of sumptuous vignettes. Sometimes floating. Sometimes rocketing. But always immersed in the beauty, joy, and charm of the poetry and music of the great Barbara Strozzi.
Co-created by Erin Helyard, Constantine Costi and Charlotte Mungomery.
Erin Helyard - Musical Director, Conductor and Keyboards
Constantine Costi - Director
Charlotte Mungomery - Production Designer
Dimitri Zaunders - Director of Photography
James Vaughan - Editor
Shannon Burns - Choreographer
Ella Butler - Art Director
Anna Dowsley - Mezzo soprano
Taryn Fiebig - Soprano
Chloe Lankshear - Soprano
Keara Donohoe - Mezzo soprano
Nicholas Jones - Tenor
David Greco - Baritone
Andrew O’Connor - Bass
Simon Martyn-Ellis - Theorbo and Baroque Guitar
Hannah Lane - Baroque Harp
Anthea Cottee - Cello, Viola da Gamba and Lirone
Matthew Greco - Violin
Karina Schmitz - Violin
Allie Graham - Dancer
Neale Whittaker - Dancer
-- Constantine Costi, Director
"Barbara Strozzi’s music is steeped in the experimental language of early opera. Every word receives its own musical shape that magically conjures up images and emotions. Although she never wrote an opera herself, Strozzi studied with Cavalli, one of opera’s earliest and greatest practitioners. I have always been drawn to the music of Barbara Strozzi. I find her tenacity, confidence, and virtuosity enormously inspiring. And so her first publication, the Madrigals (Op. 1) of 1644, was the perfect choice of music for Pinchgut’s first film project. Just as Barbara’s Op. 1 was her formal debut into professional life, so too does our film represent our first foray in the world of cinema. In this project I was honoured to be joined by director Constantine Costi and designer Charlotte Mungomery. Both brought their considerable creative talents to bear on this project, which brings contemporary focus to universal issues of human existence whilst respecting the traditions and conventions from which the music sprang."
"Working alongside Erin Helyard and the Pinchgut Opera team was an unforgettable and extraordinary experience. Their courage to shoot a film of this scale and daring in the midst of global unrest and uncertainty is nothing short of inspirational."
"Crafting a film for the music of Barbara Strozzi was an honour. At the age of 25 she wrote a series of madrigals, that unbeknownst to her, 4 centuries later, would be transformed into a work of visual poetry: A Delicate Fire. Whilst working on this project I became hyper aware of my own age (also 25): as I simultaneously felt a synergy with Barbara yet was also intimidated by her profound capacity to create a work of art so universal & intimate at such an age. I think it was this strange transhistorical pressure and the connection I felt to her as a creative that inspired the depth and delicacy of my work production designing and co-creating the visuals for this operatic film. There was also something wildly exciting about the challenge of shooting a film amidst a global pandemic. While the world was falling apart outside the film studio, we were creating new worlds within it. I deeply respect Pinchgut for taking the risk to facilitate such an ambitious project in these uncertain times. I have a feeling however that the unique circumstances of 2020 are what made the content of this film so special and truly unique."
Illegitimate at birth, with parents who never married, Barbara Strozzi was a talented, determined, and self-reliant individual. Though conceived out of wedlock, she enjoyed the support of a father – most likely Giulio Strozzi, a prominent Venetian poet and editor – who recognised and ‘legitimised’ Barbara in his will as his figliuola elettiva, his chosen daughter.
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The world into which Barbara was born in 1619 was a fortunate one. Her birthplace of Venice was at its cultural peak; a wealthy, peaceful city, full of academic curiosity and artistic innovation. The household in which she lived with her servant mother was often visited by the greatest literary and musical minds of the age.
From a very young age, Barbara was in possession of a fine singing voice and a talent for music. With her father’s support, by age 15, she was working with one of the most influential Venetian opera composers of the time, Francesco Cavalli, who helped organise concerts so her music could be heard.
Her musical style is simple and direct, but her craftswomanship is to be found in the exquisite setting of the texts. Like Monteverdi before her, she followed the principles of seconda prattica, placing the greatest value on expressive communication of the text, rather than necessarily following strict harmonic rules. As a result, some of her harmonies are more than a little whacky, but it’s all in service of creating an intimate relationship between the words and the music.
I must reverently consecrate this first work, which as a woman, I publish all too boldly, to the Most August Name of Your Highness, so that under your Oak of Gold it may rest secure from the lightening bolts of slander prepared for it.
Barbara Strozzi to Vittoria della Rovere, duchess of Tuscany, in the dedication to Opus 1.
In 1644, Barbara Strozzi published her Opus 1: a collection of 25 madrigals, setting texts by her father. It would be the first of eight collections – 125 pieces of vocal music in total – to be published in her name. This was a rare thing; women composers most often had to adopt a male pseudonym to see their works in print. But not Barbara. She resolutely put her own name to everything that she wrote. The enduring legacy of this obstinance – or recognition of self-worth, whichever you prefer – is that much of her music survived into modern times in printed form. The exception is her Opus 4 which, if it exists at all, is probably only in manuscript form in Strozzi’s own hand. What an exciting musical discovery that would be!
Much has been made of a portrait painted of a young Barbara Strozzi, which reveals an attractive young woman, albeit with a fairly glazed-over gaze, suffering something of a wardrobe malfunction. This portrait has probably helped spur on rumours that she supplemented her musical income by working as a courtesan. She was a single mum to four children and never married, though three of those children were to the same man. In truth, her impressive décolleté is more likely to be classic iconography, symbolising both motherhood and commitment to the arts, rather than any loose morals!
Article by Genevieve Lang, Harpist, writer, broadcaster
Barbara Strozzi, Master Of The 17th Century Love Song - womenyoushouldknow.net
Feminism, Sex and Power: The Life and Music of Barbara Strozzi - courtauldian.com
This is the amazing story of Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi - classicfm.com
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