The Secret World of Benedetto Blanis
Edward Goldberg
In the seventeenth century, Florence was the splendid capital of the Medici Grand Dukedom of Tuscany. Meanwhile, the Jews in its tiny Ghetto struggled to earn a living by any possible means, especially loan-sharking, rag-picking and second-hand dealing. They were viewed as an uncanny people with rare supernatural powers, and Benedetto Blanis – a businessman and aspiring scholar from a distinguished Ghetto dynasty – sought to parlay his alleged mastery of astrology, alchemy and Kabbalah into a grand position at the Medici Court. He won the admiration and esteem of Don Giovanni dei Medici, a scion of the ruling family, and for six tumultuous years their lives were inextricably linked.
Musical introduction by Three Notch’d Road: The Charlottesville Baroque Ensemble with pieces by Salamone Rossi and Bernardo Storace.
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LOCATION
Embassy of Italy – Auditorium
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
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GOLDBERG
Edward Goldberg graduated in Art History at the University of Delaware with a thesis on Studies in Counter Reformation Iconography; at Oxford University he got his Diploma with thesis on Fifteenth Century French and Netherlandish Painting and Manuscript Illumination and his Ph.D. with a study on Art Collecting in Florence in the Time of Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici. He taught Art History at Harvard University from 1981 to 1987. In 1993 he founded The Medici Archive Project, which he directed until 2005. He is an art historian, an archival sleuth and a long-time resident of Florence. For nearly forty years, he has explored the vast archive of the Medici Grand Dukes and published many books and articles – culminating in the discovery of a lifetime: two hundred letters from Benedetto Blanis to his great Medici patron. Week by week, Benedetto recorded his daring intrigues at the Medici Court, his illicit business deals, his commerce in banned books, his skirmishes with the Inquisition and his adventures in the occult. His letters survived, against all possible odds. And now, after four centuries, they are giving up their secrets—in Goldberg’s two recent books, Jews and Magic in Medici Florence: The Secret World of Benedetto Blanis (winner of the 2012 International Flaiano Prize for Italian Culture) and A Jew at the Medici Court: The Letters of Benedetto Blanis Hebreo, 1615-1621 (both 2011, University of Toronto Press).
MUSICAL PROGRAM
David McCormick, baroque violin
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord
Anthony Harvey, theorbo
Alessandro Piccinini (1566-1638)
Partite variate sopra quest’Aria francese detta l’Alemanna
(A. Harvey)
Salamone Rossi (1570-1630)
Sonata Terza sopra l’Arie della Romanesca
(D. McCormick, F. Hughes, M. Shuldiner, A. Harvey)
Salamone Rossi
Sonata Settima sopra l’aria d’un Balletto
(D. McCormick, F. Hughes, M. Shuldiner, A. Harvey)
Bernardo Storace (B. 1664)
Ciaconna
(M. Shuldiner)
Salamone Rossi
Sonata quarta sopra l’arie di Ruggiero
(D. McCormick, F. Hughes, M. Shuldiner, A. Harvey)
PERFORMERS – Three Notch’d Road
Violinist Fiona Hughes holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. A founding member of Three Notch’d Road, she has performed with Apollo’s Fire, Boston Baroque, the Washington Bach Consort, Duke Vespers Ensemble, and the Handel and Haydn Society under Harry Christophers and Sir Roger Norrington. Recent performances include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (CD to be released by Friends of Music) and appearances with both the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia and Staunton Music Festival. Fiona has been involved in music festivals across the country, including ENCORE, Kinhaven, Brevard Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, Banff, and Japan’s Pacific Music Festival, where she concertized in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya with the PMF orchestra and Riccardo Muti. In 2012 she traveled to Warmelo castle in the Netherlands to take part in an intensive masterclass program with Lucy van Dael. A past member of the Akron Symphony, she has performed in masterclasses given by Lynn Harrell, Roberto Díaz, Anner Bylsma, and Jordi Savall. Her period bows are by Louis Bégin and David Hawthorne. She plays a Claude Pierray violin (1720 Paris).
Violinist David McCormick is an experienced performer and educator based in Charlottesville. His degrees in music education and performance from Shenandoah University and Case Western Reserve University include specialized training in chamber music and historical performance. David has performed all over the world, including a European tour as a member of the Blue Ridge String Quartet. As a member of the Viandante Quartet, he was awarded top honors in the Virginia Music Teachers Association chamber music competition, and in 2008 he made his professional solo debut, performing with Prince William Baroque. David is co-founder of Three Notch’d Road, and has performed recently with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia. David’s research of 17th century composer and violinist Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi led to the formation of The Pandolfi Project, a group that recently performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, where David was also a featured performer with ensembles from Case Western Reserve University. David teaches violin and viola in Charlottesville and Waynesboro.
Mark Shuldiner, historical keyboards, is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory’s Historical Performance program, where he studied harpsichord with Webb Wiggins. Mr. Shuldiner has also enjoyed additional instruction from such keyboard luminaries as Emanuel Ax and Davitt Moroney. Recent projects have included playing harpsichord, celeste, and organ for staged productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten as well as a production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea under the direction of Stephen Stubbs. Mark led a performance of Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants to great acclaim on a fringe concert at the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival. A rising star of the Chicago early music scene, Mark has performed with Chicago-based ensembles such as The Newberry Consort, Music of the Baroque, the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Baroque Band, the B.B.E., and Rook. While maintaining a rigorous performing schedule, Mark also runs his own harpsichord repair and rental workshop and has provided tuning and maintenance solutions to many notable clients including The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, and Chicago Opera Theater.
Anthony Harvey is Artistic Director for Middleburg Musick and teaches at James Madison University. He performs regularly as soloist and as a continuo player on theorbo, baroque guitar and baroque lute. He currently performs with North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Vermillian, Three Notch’d Road, The Washington Bach Consort, Chatham Baroque, and co-directs James Madison University’s The Valley Collegium among others. Mr. Harvey holds multiple degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied theorbo and baroque lute with Richard Stone. He has also previously served on faculty at Washington College.
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