Music from the Monastery of São Bento da Avé-Maria, of Porto.
Founded in 1517, the former Royal Monastery of São Bento da Avé-Maria was the most important institution for cloistered religious women in Porto—which influenced not only the quantity but also the quality of the music produced within the ancient Benedictine monastery of Porto. After the death of the last nun in 1892 the entire monastery complex was demolished and most of its property was sold at public auction. Part of the documentation, and especially a significant musical collection, were sent to Portuguese public libraries and archives, where the musical legacy of the female musicians of Avé-Maria lay dormant for over a century. Especially thanks to the AVEMUS Project – Concertante-style Music in the Former Royal Monastery of São Bento da Avé-Maria in Porto (www.avemus.org), carried out within the framework of CESEM – Centre for the Study of Music (NOVA-FCSH) and funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, this important collection has now been rightfully returned to the present day. The repertoire of concertante-style music from the former Avé-Maria monastery, preserved by the Music Section of the National Library of Portugal, consists of motets, verses, psalms, hymns, antiphons, lamentations, responsories, masses, and more. Fundamentally, it is a repertoire for choir and/or solo voice(s), with accompaniment by bowed string instruments (violins and cello) and/or obbligato organ. The prolific musical activity at the former Avé-Maria monastery was decisively advanced by the choir mistresses D. Anna Felícia, between 1784 and 1793/1794, and D. Anna Ignacia de Freitas, from 1793/4 to 1826. Both were cloistered artists of extraordinary value – not only because of the musical legacy built from the works they commissioned, but also for the remarkable technical and vocal qualities revealed in the scores dedicated to them: sopranos with a light timbre and wide range, easily reaching the highest notes and performing elaborate coloratura passages. This concert’s programme brings together some of the most significant works for solo voices with organ accompaniment from the former women’s Benedictine monastery of Porto, by Italian composers active in the city, such as Girolamo Sertori (Parma, c.1692 – floruit Pamplona, 1772, Porto, 1764-65) and Nicola Petruzzi (Naples, ? – Porto, 1807), as well as by António da Silva Leite (Porto, 1759-1833), the outstanding composer of the former Monastery of Avé-Maria. In his works, the latter demonstrates a deep understanding of the technical and vocal abilities of the nuns for whom he wrote, and whose eclectic compositional style reveals influences from the Neapolitan school, Viennese classicism, and Italian bel canto. This concert highlights a golden era of sacred music in Porto, remarkably unique in the Portuguese and European scope. In this context, the role played by the musical nuns was essential – women who, although isolated from worldly society, were patrons and exceptional performers and, as such, the main protagonists in the production of a legacy of concertante religious music of inestimable historical and artistic value.
— Rosana Orsini · Marco Orsini-Brescia —
19 October
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Guadalupe, Porto da Cruz
Sunday, 6.00 pm
20 October
Igreja de Santa Luzia, Funchal
Monday, 9.30 pm
Rosana Orsini, soprano
Nerea Berraondo, mezzo soprano
Marco Brescia, organ
Girolamo Sertori (1692-1772)
¬ Manum suam misit hostis
Nicolla Petruzzi (?-1807)
¬ Qui sedes (Missa in C major)
¬ Domine Deus (Missa in C major)
¬ Quoniam (Missa in C major)
António da Silva Leite (1759-1833)
¬ Adagio in a minor
¬ Adagio in d minor
¬ Quoniam in d minor
¬ Audient verba (from the motet Domine, clamavi ad te)
¬ Vota mea
¬ Non declines, cor meum (from the motet Domine, clamavi ad te)
¬ Psalite Deo nostro
