Café Barock: Laura Maddalena

Harpsichordist and actress Elina Mustonen brings to life the Ospedales - Italian orphanages for girls dating back to the Middle Ages - in the piece she commissioned from composer Eero Hämeenniemi. Towards the end of the 17th century, Venetian orphanages developed into the best music schools open to women in Europe, where the most prominent maestros of the time served as teachers: Vivaldi, Galuppi, Cavalli, Gasparini, Legrenzi....

The musical drama Laura Maddalena tells the story of two ospedale girls who lived in different eras by combining history and fiction, Venetian harpsichord music, Hämeenniemi's new compositions and the text he wrote. In addition, the performance includes music by Luigi Rossi, Barbara Strozzi, Domenico Scarlatti, Baldassare Galuppi and Ferdinando Bertoni.

The life story of the versatile musician Maddalena-Laura Lombardini Sirmeni (1745-1818) provided some of the ingredients for the performance. This woman who grew up in the Ospedale dei Mendicanti later had a successful international career as a violinist, singer and composer.

This is the first performance of the work in English, and it will then be performed by Mustonen for the first time in Italy, Villa Lante in Rome.

Elina Mustonen, harpsichordist and actress

Music: Eero Hämeenniemi

Direction: Johanna Freundlich

Kalliosali

4.4.2023 doors at 19.00, showtime at 20.00

Tickets 10/15€ from Holvi Shop, duration 1 h

The bar in Kalliosali is open during the event