Acclaimed for its “rhythmic verve, spontaneity and a glorious explosion of color” (Pizzicato, Canzoni da Sonar con ogni sort of istromenti, G. Picchi), Concerto Scirocco explores the English musical life at the time of Elizabeth I and James I, particularly the genre Masks and Fancies. Cultural life in England in the 16th and 17th centuries was effervescent: the Courts invest important means for the production of masks, shows capable of mix music, dance, theater and scenography, in a sumptuous demonstration of grandeur. At the same time, the first theaters dedicated to Drama were born in the suburbs: “Red Lion”, “The Theater”, “The Rose”, “The Swan” and the Globe in 1599. Music plays a fundamental role and accompanies this eccentric cultural vitality: the asymmetrical Fantasies of J. Hilton, the monumental Chansons et Pavanes by W. Brade, the insolent and rhetorical masks of R. Johnson reveal to us a time of incomparable musical creativity.
Giulia Genini 