The Monteverdi Project was created by Kenneth Zammit Tabona in March 2017. Since then Maestro Mencoboni, who is considered to be one of the leading specialists of Baroque and Renaissance music, together with Maltese Soprano Gillian Zammit, have been training a consort of local singers in ensemble work and Baroque vocal and musical techniques.
The pieces that will be performed in this concert include a selection of the Missa Brevis by Pierluigi da Palestrina published in 1599 within his third book of Masses. The Mass will intentionally not be performed in its entirety to give space to various solo moments with pieces belonging to the first half of the 1600s, a time when sacred music reached its maximum splendor in Rome and Italy. The set also includes pieces by Luigi Battiferri, by Alessandro Grandi, and by Barbara Strozzi.
Programme:
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c1525-1594)
From: Liber Missarum nr 3 (1599)
Missa Brevis (Kyrie and Gloria)
for four voices
Sopranos: Analise Mifsud, Mariah Costa, Michaela Agius,
Mardy Farrugia, Jasmine Farrugia, Gillian Zammit,
Francesca Aquilina, and Alison Gatt.
Altos: Francesca Buhagiar, Jessica Zammit, Lisa Baldacchino,
and Karl Luke Schembri.
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
From: Sacri musicali affetti (1655)
Surgite, surgite
for soprano and basso continuo
Soprano: Gillian Zammit
Luigi Battiferri (1610-1682)
From: Messa e salmi a tre voci (1642)
Salve Regina
for two sopranos and basso continuo
Sopranos: Analise Mifsud and Gillian Zammit
Alessandro Grandi (1586-1630)
From: Ghirlanda sacra (1625)
O quam tu pulchra es
for soprano and basso continuo
Soprano: Michaela Agius
Luigi Battiferri (1610-1682)
From: Messa e salmi a tre voci (1642)
Surgite gentes
for two sopranos and basso continuo
Sopranos: Francesca Aquilina and Alison Gatt
Giovanni Rovetta (1596-1668)
From: Mottetti a 2, 3, e 4 voci (1650)
Alma redemptoris Mater
for alto, tenor and basso continuo
Alto: Francesca Buhagiar
Tenor: Stanley Portelli
Giovanni Pierluigi da Paletrina (c1525-1594)
From: Liber Missarum nr 3 (1599)
Benedictus
for 3 voices
Sopranos: Mariah Costa, Mardy Farrugia, and Jasmine Farrugia
Altos: Karl Luke Schembri, and Jessica Zammit
Luigi Battiferri (1610-1682)
From: Messa e salmi a tre voci (1642)
Agnus Dei
for three voices and basso continuo
Altos: Lisa Baldacchino, and Stanley Portelli
Basso: Mark Bartolo