{"id":3599,"date":"2016-11-28T09:04:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T08:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/?p=3599"},"modified":"2016-11-28T09:04:37","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T08:04:37","slug":"italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/","title":{"rendered":"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"italics\"<\/a>by Susan Miron*<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a colorful affair last Thursday in Harvard\u2019s Paine Hall in many senses. \u201cItalian Baroque Music from the Jewish Ghetto\u201d (mostly Salamone Rossi) featured scholar Christoph Wolff and conductor and harpsichordist Nicholas McGegan joined by an impressive array of forces including scholar Francesco Spagnolo and superb soprano Sherezade Panthaki. McGegan presented an enlightening lecture\/recital, bringing this fascinating musical period to life via the Yale Voxtet, a group of eight graduate students at the Institute of Sacred Music, and the excellent Philharmonic Baroque Chamber Players, comprising violinists Katherine Kyme and Noah Strick, cellist Phoebe Carrai, and theorbist David Tayler.<\/p>\n

McGegan and Spagnolo devoted most of their lecture\/concert to composer Rossi (c.1570-1630), the extraordinary musician who inhabited three worlds, the synagogue, the Court of Mantua, where he worked, and the theater. In 1587 Rossi was engaged as musician and singer at the ducal court of Vincenze I of Mantua, where his sister Europa was a singer. She is known to have sung in the play Il ratto di Europa (\u201cThe Rape of Europa\u201d) in 1608. The chronicler Federico Follino raved over her performance, describing it as that of \u201ca woman understanding music to perfection\u201d and \u201csinging, to the listeners\u2019 great delight and their greater wonder, in a most delicate and sweet-sounding voice\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rossi stood in high favor at this court and was allowed to appear in public without the yellow badge other Mantua Jews were obliged to wear. Synagogue life in Venice allowed for multifaith, multicultural encounters. Even non-Jews appeared in synagogues in the Venice Ghetto, founded on March 29, 1516. (It was actually called \u201cghetto\u201d before Jews lived there). There were eight synagogues in Venice, 20 in Mantua. After publishing collections of Italian vocal music and instrumental works, Rossi decided, around 1612, to write Hebrew songs. He describes these songs as \u201cnew songs [zemirot] that I devised through \u2018counterpoint\u2019 [seder].\u201d Attempts had been made to introduce art music into the synagogue in the early 17th century, but none of these early works survives. Rossi\u2019s 33 Songs by Solomon (Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomoh) are the first Hebrew polyphonic \u201csongs\u201d to be printed. His other compositions comprised chiefly religious poems, hymns, and madrigals; he wrote also a musical drama entitled Maddalena. Several of his poems were dedicated to persons of princely rank. It is likely that Rossi in 1612 was the leader of a Jewish band of singers, and likewise of a theatrical company.<\/p>\n

Divided in five parts, the concert began with two choral and one instrumental piece by Rossi. It began with \u201cHallelujah, Ashrei Ish\u201d (Psalm 112), sung in Hebrew (and appearing onscreen in Hebrew and English), followed by Sonata in dialogo la Viena, Book III no. 6, with two violins on opposite sides of the stage, for which a painting, \u201cThe Concert\u201d by Pietro Longhi (1741), featuring three violins and an undersized dog along its bottom edge, appeared onscreen. A charming \u201cVendr`o l\u2019 mio sol\u201d from the third book of madrigals followed in Italian. \u201cMizmor shir leyom ha shabbat\u201d, in what was was termed 17th-century Italian-Hebrew, exemplified Rossi\u2019s setting Biblical texts to music in their original Hebrew, which makes him unique among Baroque composers.<\/p>\n

The next three Rossi tracks, sung in Hebrew and meant for synagogue, included the beautiful Sabbath song, \u201cMizmor shir leyom hashabbat (Psalm 92), the prayer \u201cHashkivenu,\u201d and the wedding ode, \u201cLemi \u2018ephors,\u201d which featured echoes, with the last words repeated as bilingual puns.<\/p>\n

Four songs by Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) showed the influence of Rossi. Most striking was \u201cSalmo Decimottavo Aria\u201d (O immaculate e santa divine) from Estro poetic-armonico, sung with seductive beauty by Sherezade Panthaki. After two Rossi theater songs, we heard Monteverdi\u2019s (1567-1643) \u201cLaudate Dominum\u201d (Psalm 150) and his glorious Prologue (La Musica) from Orfeo, played with enthusiasm and grace by the Philharmonia Baroque instrumentalists. Four Rossi instrumental pieces closed, accompanied by period paintings, including a lovely ceiling by Andrea Montenegra. from the ducal palace. The last work, in Italian, was the charming \u201cPargoletta che non Sai\u201d from Rossi\u2019s Madrigaletti (1628).<\/p>\n

A lot of information and music was squeezed into an hour and a half, and the rapt audience could have easily listened for another hour.<\/p>\n

*Susan Miron is a book critic, essayist, and harpist. Her last two CDs featured her transcriptions of keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti. This article was published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer on November 21, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Susan Miron* It was a colorful affair last Thursday in Harvard\u2019s Paine Hall in many senses. \u201cItalian Baroque Music from the Jewish Ghetto\u201d (mostly Salamone Rossi) featured scholar Christoph Wolff and conductor and harpsichordist Nicholas McGegan joined by an impressive array of forces including scholar Francesco Spagnolo and superb soprano Sherezade Panthaki. McGegan presented… leggi <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4296,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7613],"tags":[],"position":[],"class_list":["post-3599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-italian-word-of-the-week"],"yoast_head":"\nITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Susan Miron* It was a colorful affair last Thursday in Harvard\u2019s Paine Hall in many senses. \u201cItalian Baroque Music from the Jewish Ghetto\u201d (mostly Salamone Rossi) featured scholar Christoph Wolff and conductor and harpsichordist Nicholas McGegan joined by an impressive array of forces including scholar Francesco Spagnolo and superb soprano Sherezade Panthaki. McGegan presented… leggi \" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pagine Ebraiche International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-28T08:04:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rossellatercatin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rossellatercatin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/\",\"name\":\"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-28T08:04:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/51e9fca2f211041a5817e3678547fee1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png\",\"width\":206,\"height\":92},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/\",\"name\":\"Pagine Ebraiche International\",\"description\":\"A Taste of the Italian Jewish World\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/51e9fca2f211041a5817e3678547fee1\",\"name\":\"rossellatercatin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2261350e4b6436b942e97ff77816c779ef1acb7b5238174c7cd8d96e4d0d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2261350e4b6436b942e97ff77816c779ef1acb7b5238174c7cd8d96e4d0d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rossellatercatin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/author\/rossellatercatin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International","og_description":"by Susan Miron* It was a colorful affair last Thursday in Harvard\u2019s Paine Hall in many senses. \u201cItalian Baroque Music from the Jewish Ghetto\u201d (mostly Salamone Rossi) featured scholar Christoph Wolff and conductor and harpsichordist Nicholas McGegan joined by an impressive array of forces including scholar Francesco Spagnolo and superb soprano Sherezade Panthaki. McGegan presented… leggi ","og_url":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/","og_site_name":"Pagine Ebraiche International","article_published_time":"2016-11-28T08:04:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"rossellatercatin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rossellatercatin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/","url":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/","name":"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto - Pagine Ebraiche International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png","datePublished":"2016-11-28T08:04:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/51e9fca2f211041a5817e3678547fee1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/files\/2014\/04\/italics.png","width":206,"height":92},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/11\/28\/italics-glimpsing-the-mantuan-ghetto\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ITALICS Glimpsing the Mantuan Ghetto"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#website","url":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/","name":"Pagine Ebraiche International","description":"A Taste of the Italian Jewish World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/51e9fca2f211041a5817e3678547fee1","name":"rossellatercatin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2261350e4b6436b942e97ff77816c779ef1acb7b5238174c7cd8d96e4d0d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2261350e4b6436b942e97ff77816c779ef1acb7b5238174c7cd8d96e4d0d91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rossellatercatin"},"url":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/author\/rossellatercatin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4296"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3600,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3599\/revisions\/3600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3599"},{"taxonomy":"position","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/position?post=3599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}