International Women’s Day yesterday. Why not prolong the event with the discovery of a female composer from the Baroque era, Francesca Caccini? She is featured on Shannon Mercer’s new album, Viva Rosa, to be released today.

Born in Florence in 1587 and often nicknamed “La Cecchina” (the singing bird), Francesca Caccini is the daugther of Giulio Caccini, a prolific and respected composer  who wrote several books of madrigals including La Nuove Musiche and numerous reference books. Along with her brother Pompeo and sister Settimia, she was a member of the Concerto Caccini, an ensemble whose notable performances included singing at the marriage of Henri IV of France and Maria de Medici in 1600. Four years later, when the king heard her in Paris, he was profoundly moved. “You are the best singer in France,” he unequivocally stated and immediately offered her a position at court, but the Florentine officials refused to release her from her engagement. In 1607, Francesca gets a position with the Medici as a teacher, singer, vocal coach and composer of lyric and chamber music.

The testimonies from that period are unanimous: Francesca Caccini was a remarkable musician, known as a singer but also as a polyvalent instrumentalist who mastered the luth, the guitar and the harpsichord. Having received a humanist education from the very start, she was also a respected poet and most probably wrote most of the texts of the collection presented here, excepted Difpiegate (a text by Ceba).

The following interview with Arvo Pärt was conducted at the composer’s home at Mustamäe, November 28, 1978. Filmed by Andres Sööt, the dialogue (at times, Arvo’s wife Eleonora seconds his husband behind the screen) and the rehearsal of the soon-to-be-premiered Italian Concerto at the concert hall Estonia became the basis for the film-portrait entitled Arvo Pärt in November 1978. The conversation, which lasted more than an hour was painstakingly transribed and shows a rare glimpse in the mind of the composer… You can read it by clicking on the Articles tab of the Arvo Pärt Information Archive.

To listen to the album…

It was last night at the St-Paul Hotel that was launched Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà’s latest album, dedicated to the contemporary composer Arvo Pärt. Here is how Angèle Dubeau talked about the composer:

“His music has touched me deeply in the last few years, as does the music of Philip Glass. Even if he’s really different, Pärt has a unique signature. To draw a faithful portrait of this exceptional composer, I had to search for raw material: music of deceptive simplicity, freed from all artifice, in which silence becomes music. All-wisdom, this language calms me and it is almost with devotion that I performed this luminous and vibrant music.”

To listen to the album…

Because images and music speak louder than words, a video of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, as performed live by the Orchestre de la Francophonie, under the direction of Jean-Philippe Tremblay.