Duo Cor Barocco - Scherzi e lacrime: Songs of Desire and Disenchantment in the Venetian Seicento (2025)

Tracklist

01. L'Eraclito amoroso
02. Amor dormiglione
03. Ciaccona
04. Che si può fare?
05. E' pazzo il mio core
06. Toccata, vol. II
07. Con male nuove
08. Amore è bandito
09. Corrente XI
10. L'amante segreto
11. La mia donna perché canta
12. Canzon francese La gatta
13. Io so ch'alle faville
14. Mi fa rider la speranza

In the heart of 17th-century Venice, among the dazzling theatres and the shadows of an era caught between power and freedom, an extraordinary figure emerges: Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677). She was not only a composer and singer but probably also a violist, certainly a poet, and a guiding light in intellectual salons.
Although Strozzi’s works have often been overlooked by musical historiography, we now have the opportunity to rediscover her music as a genuine treasure of passion, introspection, and virtuosity. The musical portrait of one of the most significant composers of the Baroque period is crafted through a juxtaposition of arias and solo secular cantatas, the forms to which Strozzi devoted herself most.
Her music conveys universal and timeless emotions through the language of Baroque bel canto. Her pieces display a rich variety of diverse characters; indeed, Strozzi adeptly captures the subtlest nuances of the human soul, narrating love in its multiple forms.
Strozzi possesses an acute understanding of the voice’s potential and skilfully leverages it by elaborating intricate melodic lines that intertwine with the instrumental accompaniment in a sophisticated manner, all while maintaining the beauty and clarity of expression.
Her cantatas reveal a distinctive preference for the form of the basso ostinato a harmonic foundation on which the voice soars with embellishments, rapid passages, and delicate melismas. Works such as L’Eraclito amoroso and L’amante segreto, exquisite and sad laments of love, are structured with recitatives and arias that include the “passacaglia” basso ostinato sections typical of the lament genre.
Pieces like Che si può fare? and L’Eraclito amoroso open a dialogue between desire and suffering. In these compositions, Strozzi translates the restless nature of love into music, capable of evoking both moments of sweetness and torment. In Io so ch’alle faville and La sol fa mi re do – La mia donna perché canta, the composer unleashes her creativity, incorporating virtuosic passages that challenge the technical abilities of the singers while simultaneously evoking a sense of ecstasy and lightness, as if the music itself were taking flight. Moreover, Strozzi does not confine her exploration of love to its forms. In works such as L’amante segreto and Con male nuove, she delves into the darker and more hidden facets of emotions, unveiling human vulnerability and the complexities of unreciprocated desires. Conversely, Mi fa rider la speranza and É pazzo il mio core playfully engage with irony and reflection, questioning the absurdity and beauty of life. The vocal agility characteristic of her writing is one of the most fascinating aspects of her music; Strozzi’s virtuosity is not merely technical prowess but also serves as a means for expressing emotions and internal tensions. The music within her recitatives often possesses an emphatic and contrasting quality, while her arias display greater lyrical expressiveness than those of her contemporaries. Although her works primarily focus on the solo voice, they develop through a continuous dialogue between voice and instrument, creating a sonic texture that fosters a unique atmosphere capable of amplifying the emotional content of each piece. This compositional skill, together with her ability to convey intense emotions, makes her music as compelling and engaging today as it was in her time. Overall, Barbara Strozzi’s musical output is remarkable for its variety of expressed emotions, its harmonic boldness, and the immediacy with which feelings alternate within her cantatas.
In her volumes, some works credit the author of the text, but the majority do not. For her first book, composed in her youth, it is known that her father and poet Giulio Strozzi contributed to the texts, but for the subsequent volumes, it is likely that the lyricist is Barbara herself. We believe this for various reasons: firstly, the lyrics fit perfectly with the music, suggesting a single author; secondly, they contain the frequent self-reference to “Barbara” and adopt a feminine narrative perspective; finally, it would seem illogical if some authors were named and others were not.
What characterises Strozzi’s texts? They are unconventional, ironic, and allusive, yet also heartfelt – sometimes infused with desolation, and at other times expressing a combative spirit. For instance, in La mia donna perché canta, Strozzi plays with the names of musical notes, crafting a series of double meanings: what appears to be a light-hearted game with notes subtly conceals the theme of a love… for hire, where the man mocks himself for falling into the woman’s trap.
The program is interspersed with instrumental pieces for theorbo and archlute from the same era as Strozzi. We have selected works by Girolamo Kapsberger and Alessandro Piccinini, composers similar to her as early proponents of certain musical stylistic traits that others would adopt later. In particular, Kapsberger is likely among the first to use dissonances in sudden and unpredictable ways, alongside rhythms that can be irrational; the result is a seemingly chaotic musical expression that encapsulates a rebellious spirit and captivates with its novelty.

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