This Week in Classical Music: June 9, 2025. Mantua. Last week, we wrote about Cremona, one of the most musical cities in the northern part of Italy. We should mention Mantua, which was also on our itinerary. For two centuries, from mid-15th to mid-17th, Mantua was even more prominent; musically, the city was second only to Ferrara, and, as the ruling families of the cities, the Gonzagas and the d’Este, were very close, intermarried and friendly, the cultural life of these two cities was similar. For example, Francesco II Gonzaga (1466 – 1519), Marquess of Mantua (the lords of Mantua were made Dukes in 1530 by the Emperor Charles V), was married to Isabella d’Este, the daughter of Ercole d’Este, the Duke of Ferrara. While her husband was fighting wars on behalf of the Republic of Venice and having numerous affairs, Isabella ruled Mantua on his behalf, promoting arts and music. Isabella was born in Ferrara in 1474 and died in Mantua in 1539, so her life covered the richest period of the Renaissance. She extended her patronage to some of the best painters of the time, among them Giovanni Bellini, Mantegna, Giorgione, Leonardo, Perugino, Rafael, and Titian. Isabella’s favorite composer was Bartolomeo Tromboncino (1470 – 1535). Here’s Vergine bella, one of his frottolas, secular songs of the time (a predecessor to the madrigal). The great British soprano Emma Kirkby is accompanied by the Consort of Musicke under the direction of Anthony Rooley.
Isabella’s son Federico II Gonzaga, the first Duke of Mantua, commissioned Palazzo Te to Giulio Romano, Rafael’s favorite student. The result is one of the most unusually decorated palaces of Renaissance Europe. Federico also established the first permanent cappella. Giaches de Wert became the maestro di cappella under the Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, who himself was a composer. Among the composers who worked at the court were Palestrina (briefly) and Benedetto Pallavicino (1551 – 1601), an associate of de Wert and, for a while, Monteverdi’s rival. Pallavicino was a maestro di cappella for about five years. Here is his madrigal Cor mio, deh, non languire. The performers, again, are the Consort of Musicke under the direction of Anthony Rooley. Beautifully done.
The 22-year-old Claudio Monteverdi arrived in Mantua in 1589, two years after the coronation of Vincenzo I Gonzaga as the Duke of Mantua. Vincenzo was a great patron of the arts, supporting poets (Tasso), architects, and composers, Monteverdi first and foremost. Monteverdi assumed the directorship of the cappella in 1601 and stayed in Mantua till 1613. Some of the first operas were staged in Mantua: Monteverdi’s Orfeo was staged there in 1607. His Arianna and Il ballo delle ingrate, an opera-ballet, was staged a year later. Other prominent composers were active during the same time, one of them Salamone Rossi, a Jewish composer and virtuoso violinist born in the city. He served at the court from 1587 to 1626; Mantua at the time had a large Jewish community, protected by the duke.
Vincenzo died in 1612, and the great period of music development in Mantua came to an end. Some notable composers continued visiting Mantua, as Frescobaldi did in 1615, or, later, Antonio Caldara, who was the maestro di cappella to the last duke of Mantua, Ferdinando Carlo. Caldara composed and staged several operas in Mantua in the early 1700s.
Here’s a madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, De la bellezza le dovute lodi, from his Mantuan period. It is one of the songs from his 1606 publication, Scherzi Musicali (Musical jokes). The performers are the Concerto delle Dame di Ferrara, Sergio Vartolo conducting.
Mantua 2025
This Week in Classical Music: June 9, 2025. Mantua. Last week, we wrote about Cremona, one of the most musical cities in the northern part of Italy. We should mention Mantua, which was a
lso on our itinerary. For two centuries, from mid-15th to mid-17th, Mantua was even more prominent; musically, the city was second only to Ferrara, and, as the ruling families of the cities, the Gonzagas and the d’Este, were very close, intermarried and friendly, the cultural life of these two cities was similar. For example, Francesco II Gonzaga (1466 – 1519), Marquess of Mantua (the lords of Mantua were made Dukes in 1530 by the Emperor Charles V), was married to Isabella d’Este, the daughter of Ercole d’Este, the Duke of Ferrara. While her husband was fighting wars on behalf of the Republic of Venice and having numerous affairs, Isabella ruled Mantua on his behalf, promoting arts and music. Isabella was born in Ferrara in 1474 and died in Mantua in 1539, so her life covered the richest period of the Renaissance. She extended her patronage to some of the best painters of the time, among them Giovanni Bellini, Mantegna, Giorgione, Leonardo, Perugino, Rafael, and Titian. Isabella’s favorite composer was Bartolomeo Tromboncino (1470 – 1535). Here’s Vergine bella, one of his frottolas, secular songs of the time (a predecessor to the madrigal). The great British soprano Emma Kirkby is accompanied by the Consort of Musicke under the direction of Anthony Rooley.
Isabella’s son Federico II Gonzaga, the first Duke of Mantua, commissioned Palazzo Te to Giulio Romano, Rafael’s favorite student. The result is one of the most unusually decorated palaces of Renaissance Europe. Federico also established the first permanent cappella. Giaches de Wert became the maestro di cappella under the Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, who himself was a composer. Among the composers who worked at the court were Palestrina (briefly) and Benedetto Pallavicino (1551 – 1601), an associate of de Wert and, for a while, Monteverdi’s rival. Pallavicino was a maestro di cappella for about five years. Here is his madrigal Cor mio, deh, non languire. The performers, again, are the Consort of Musicke under the direction of Anthony Rooley. Beautifully done.
The 22-year-old Claudio Monteverdi arrived in Mantua in 1589, two years after the coronation of Vincenzo I Gonzaga as the Duke of Mantua. Vincenzo was a great patron of the arts, supporting poets (Tasso), architects, and composers, Monteverdi first and foremost. Monteverdi assumed the directorship of the cappella in 1601 and stayed in Mantua till 1613. Some of the first operas were staged in Mantua: Monteverdi’s Orfeo was staged there in 1607. His Arianna and Il ballo delle ingrate, an opera-ballet, was staged a year later. Other prominent composers were active during the same time, one of them Salamone Rossi, a Jewish composer and virtuoso violinist born in the city. He served at the court from 1587 to 1626; Mantua at the time had a large Jewish community, protected by the duke.
Vincenzo died in 1612, and the great period of music development in Mantua came to an end. Some notable composers continued visiting Mantua, as Frescobaldi did in 1615, or, later, Antonio Caldara, who was the maestro di cappella to the last duke of Mantua, Ferdinando Carlo. Caldara composed and staged several operas in Mantua in the early 1700s.
Here’s a madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi, De la bellezza le dovute lodi, from his Mantuan period. It is one of the songs from his 1606 publication, Scherzi Musicali (Musical jokes). The performers are the Concerto delle Dame di Ferrara, Sergio Vartolo conducting.