If you were not aware, their names were Laura, Livia, and Anna. Together, they were known in the late 1500’s as the Tre Donne di Ferrara - the three ladies of Ferrara.

Their ensemble was praised by contemporary poets and won highest renown throughout Italy and Germany. However, women were not supposed to become famous for their professional achievements.

And so, one of them was murdered by her husband - a count - who went unpunished. Thus, this is a tale of revolutionary women ahead of their time, living in an era when women had no protections.

In this album, it has been my pleasure to collaborate with three extraordinary ladies of today - named Amanda, Amanda, and Amanda, says Jeannette Sorrell. The Amandas and I are proud to offer this homage to the unstoppable Italian women who broke the glass ceiling in 1580. We hope that their brilliance and boldness resound through this recording.

Apollo’s Fire was named for the classical god of music and the sun and was founded in 1992 by the award-winning young harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. Sorrell envisioned an ensemble dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in the listeners. Apollo’s Fire is a collection of creative artists who share Sorrell’s passion for drama and rhetoric.

This brilliantly executed, and thoroughly immersive new recording opens on the aching yearn that builds within El Cant dels Ocells and continues onward with the dashingly elegance of Passacaglia della Vita, the euphorically strident Il primo libro di Canzone, Sinfonie, Fantasie, Capricci, Brandi, Correnti, Gagliarde, Alemane, Volte: Ciaccona in G Major, the dutifully delightful Toccata del Quarto Tono and then we get brought forth the rousingly honed 12 Madrigali per cantare e sonare: No. 8, O dolcezz’ amarissime d’amore, the flourishing Toccata in G Minor, the beautiful Passacalio, Op. 22: No. 25 and the delicately-charged Theatrum Musicium: No. 7, O Felix Jucunditas.

Along next is the flighty Amanti, io so vi dire in G Mixolydian mode and the sterner fare of Sonata sopra Fuggi dolente core, Op. 22: No. 21 and they are in turn followed by the emboldened 12 Madrigali per cantare e sonare: No. 9, Troppo ben può questo tiranno Amore, the sheer Arie, Op. 8: No. 6, Che si puó fare, the gentle dance floor swirl of Scherzi Musicali, SV 247: No. 2, Quel sguardo sdegnosetto, the strongly toned Cantates italiennes de différents auteurs, Tome 1: No. 22, Sdegno, campion audace, and then we get the shimmering Trattado de Glosas: Recercada sesta sobre la “Romanesca”, the recording rounding out on the free flowing majesties within Trattado de Glosas: Recercada segunda sobre el “passamezzo” moderno, closing on the robustly rhythmic Un Sarao de la Chacona.

Traditional, Trad. Catalan: El Cant dels Ocells
Landi, S: Passacaglia della Vita
Falconieri: Il primo libro di Canzone, Sinfonie, Fantasie, Capricci, Brandi, Correnti, Gagliarde, Alemane, Volte: Ciaccona in G Major
Luzzaschi: Toccata del Quarto Tono
Luzzaschi: 12 Madrigali per cantare e sonare: No. 8, O dolcezz’ amarissime d’amore
Piccinini: Toccata in G Minor
Marini, B: Passacalio, Op. 22: No. 25
Capricornus: Theatrum Musicium: No. 7, O Felix Jucunditas
Ferrari, Benedetto: Amanti, io so vi dire in G Mixolydian mode
Marini, B: Sonata sopra Fuggi dolente core, Op. 22: No. 21
Luzzaschi: 12 Madrigali per cantare e sonare: No. 9, Troppo ben può questo tiranno Amore
Strozzi: Arie, Op. 8: No. 6, Che si puó fare
Monteverdi: Scherzi Musicali, SV 247: No. 2, Quel sguardo sdegnosetto
Mazzocchi, V: Cantates italiennes de différents auteurs, Tome 1: No. 22, Sdegno, campion audace
Ortiz, D: Trattado de Glosas: Recercada sesta sobre la “Romanesca”
Aranés: Trattado de Glosas: Recercada segunda sobre el “passamezzo” moderno
Aranés: Un Sarao de la Chacona

Official Purchase Link

www.apollosfire.org