Composer, poet and virtuoso singer, Francesco Rasi (1574-1621) unquestionably influenced the vocal style around the dawn of the 17th century and the birth of opera. He created the title role in Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo; and in the shady ambiguity of his personal character he seems to embody the chiaroscuro atmosphere of late Renaissance Italy. This programme, devised by Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and his ensemble I Gemelli – here in its most intimate, pared-down line-up of solo voice, viola da gamba, lute and harp – displays the art of the tenor at the fruitful period of the canto fiorito, the ornately decorated melody so emblematic of the vocal school of Florence and Ferrara.
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