What is CONSOBRINAE? Hermine Horiot & Giovanni Bellini talk about it

Our Cd CONSOBRINAE is available : https://www.novantiqua.net/prodotto/C... https://www.mondadoristore.it/consobr... https://www.amazon.it/music/player/ar... https://www.fnac.com/a22381973/Domeni... https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/albu... https://www.deezer.com/fr/album/88935... Italy and France are two cousin countries: one South, one North. Despite their differences though, they are both children of the culture representing the heritage of their common ancestor, the Rome of the Caesars. The very title of this program, Consobrinae, is the Latin word for “cousins”. Still, starting from a certain era, the differences between the two musical cultures began to spread out increasingly, Italy being rather fond of singing and lyricism, France of dance and rhythm. Between the two countries there was a relationship of mutual love mixed with rivalry, a continuous fight for musical primacy in a context of continuous exchanges of influences, coming and going with traveling musicians and composers. This programme originates from our will of comparing these cultures with two musical photographs of a truly golden age of Music composition: the end of the 17th Century. We are two musicians representing the heritage of these parallel stories: a French cellist and an Italian lutenist. Our instruments, although frequently appointed to the Basso Continuo, become soloists in this evening, telling the story of what our two countries used to be at the time. At this point though, we must introduce a new element. At the end of the 17th Century the Theorbo was considered in Italy as an obsolete instrument, the public had lost interest in its solo capabilities, and it was thus confined in the role of an accompanying instrument. On the other hand, composers started to produce music specifically written for Cello, like the Sonate by Domenico Gabrielli, Alessandro Scarlatti, or the Arie da suonare by Giulio Taglietti. France on the contrary presents an opposite scenario: Theorbo, Lute and Guitar experienced a moment of absolute glory in the same period, brought forward mostly by Robert de Visée, music teacher of King Louis XV and already a very famous and appreciated virtuoso at the Court of Louis XIV. De Visée used to arrange for Theorbo many pieces composed by such illustrious colleagues as Jean-Baptiste Lully and François Couperin. Conversely, the Cello will have to wait a few years more before it rises to the forefront in the French musical scene. This leads us to a situation of cultural exchange, where one musician must represent the other’s Country and vice versa, in an evening where diverse musical affects meet to tell the story of two Nationes consobrinae, “Cousin countries”, about their love and rivalries, during one of the most beautiful and interesting eras in the History of Music.