Monteverdi's madrigals in a concept by Caroline Petrick about desire, fear and power. 

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) has composed religious music as well as many madrigals on the human compositions in which he explores the human feelings. In these madrigals, text and music seem to be completely united. Monteverdi clarifies his interpretation of the poems through the techniques and musical accents he combines. But are these madrigals really that unambiguous?

Caroline Petrick unravels the madrigals and makes a performance about desire, death and power. The young Flemish baroque orchestra B'Rock performs this new montage under musical direction by Wim Maeseele. In a game of watching and being watched, the singers are searching for the balance between body and vanitas. Visual interventions intensify the spatial tension, photography plays with this apparently unmoving space. 

Madrigals as still lives of the soul.

Credits

  • Music • Claudio Monteverdi
  • Musical direction • Skip Sempé
  • Set Design • Benoit Dugardyn
  • Costumes • Thijsje Strypens
  • Ensemble • B'Rock Orchestra
  • Soprano • Céline Scheen / Olalla Alemàn
  • Tenors • Stephan Van Dyck / Tore Denys
  • Bass • Toni Fajardo
  • Alto • Gunther Vandeven
  • Concept | Direction • Caroline Petrick
  • Image | Photography • Mirjam Devriendt
  • Lighting design • Ace McCarron