The 2023 Season of Musikàmera continues under the sign of Baroque music, with the theorbo concert by Francesca Torelli: graduated in lute with honors from the Verona Conservatory, Torelli then perfected her skills at the Guildhall School in London with Nigel North, studying in parallel Renaissance and Baroque singing with Auriol Kimber. The theorbo, also called chitarrone in Italy, is the bass of the lute family, and appeared on the musical scene in Italy towards the end of the 16th century. Unlike lutes which have double strings, the theorbo most often has 14 single strings, tuned so that the highest string is not the first, but the third. It is used for accompaniment and today it is widely used for the creation of the basso continuo in Baroque works, but it also has a solo repertoire that has only been widespread in recent years, thanks to concerts and recordings. The program for the evening in the Sale Apollinee of the Teatro La Fenice, entitled A theorbo solo from Rome to Paris, includes the performance of pieces by those who are considered the main authors of music for theorbo: Girolamo Kapsberger (Canzone prima, Toccata VII, Canario, Prelude and Toccata II arpeggiated), Alessandro Piccinini (Toccata XIII, Corrente VII, Toccata II, Ciaccona), Robert De Visée (Prelude, Les Sylvains and Chaconne), Marin Marais (Le Trolleur), Nicolas Hotman (Prelude, allemande, courante, ballet) and two anonymous, with French song “La gatta” and Les folies d’Espagne.
