Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

"La Sera del Combattimento" reconstructs the evening of the first performance of this masterpiece following Monteverdi's account. Next year it will be exactly 400 years from that evening. A man of few words, Monteverdi fortunately left us an account of that evening where he gives precious indications for performance. Let's translate him: “Combattimento in Musica di Tancredi & Clorinda, described by Tasso; If you want to perform it in a representative genre, you should let enter suddenly (after having sung some madrigals without any gesture) Clorinda from the side of the room where the Music will be performed”. So, a crucial information is first of all that before the Combattimento, in order to enhance its novelty and its theatrical dimension, the musicians should sing some Madrigals without any gesture, thus not in the representative way. Polyphony will be the perfect preface to the dramma in musica because, thanks to the contrast of styles, the theatrical Combattimento will then have a much stronger effect when performed after the polyphonic madrigals.

We want to celebrate Monteverdi's manifold genius following his account of that memorable evening, and thus recreating “La Sera del Combattimento”.