RICHARD WISTREICH, Head of Performance and Senior Lecturer, 缅北禁地 and ELIZABETH KENNY, Lecturer in Performance and Head of Early Music, University of Southampton
The Anatomy of Renaissance Singing
顿补迟别/罢颈尘别:听 5th March 2009, 17:30
The year 1601 saw the publication of two extraordinary books in Northern Italy 鈥� one in Florence, the other in Ferrara 鈥� each destined to be landmarks not only of their own respective disciplines, but also, each in their own ways, as exemplars of a profound shift in both cultural and scientific ways of describing the voice. Both were lavishly illustrated with state-of-the-art graphics: the first, Giulio Caccini鈥檚 Le nuove musiche (literally: 鈥楴ew Songs鈥�), was one of the first books of music which tried, using the latest advances in type-setting, to describe for its readers the way that contemporary singers actually used their voices to perform and adorn composed music 鈥� complete with all the improvisations, interpretative gestures and ornamentations normally added spontaneously in the moment of the performance. The other book, the Anatomical History of the Organs of Voice and Hearing by the famous Paduan anatomist Julius Casserius, included the most detailed images of dissections of the larynx and ear yet seen, in a series of extraordinarily precise engravings. In other words each tried to represent the voice 鈥榓s it really is鈥� in the age that saw the births of both opera and modern science. This lecture, which starts by wondering if these phenomena are in any way connected, explores the relationship between singing and anatomy at the site where they both meet 鈥� the human voice 鈥� and will also be lavishly illustrated, not only with historical descriptions, quotations and images but also with live performances of Renaissance songs.
Richard Wistreich is both a professional singer and an academic. For more than three decades he has specialised in the performance of the virtuoso vocal music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, collaborating with many of the most famous names in early music, touring and performing throughout the world in concerts, operas and recordings with over one hundred CD projects and countless broadcasts, including with his distinguished accompanist at today鈥檚 lecture-recital, the lutenist Elizabeth Kenny. As a cultural historian, he researches and writes about the history of singing and, more generally, about the part played by the voice in the construction of modern identity. He came to 缅北禁地 as Head of Performance in 2003 after twelve years as Professor of Singing in the Early Music Institute of the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen, Germany, where he was also Director from 1999鈥�2001 and is now Senior Lecturer in Music History. He has recently published Warrior, Courtier, Singer: Giulio Cesare Brancaccio and the Performance of Identity in Renaissance Italy and co-edited the Cam,bridge Companion to Monteverdi.
Elizabeth Kenny is one of Europe鈥檚 leading lute players. Her playing has been described as 鈥渋ncandescent鈥� (Music and Vision), 鈥渞adical鈥� (The Independent on Sunday) and 鈥渋ndecently beautiful鈥� (Toronto Post). In over a decade of touring she has played with many of the world鈥檚 best period instrument groups and experienced many different approaches to music making. She is a principal player and initiator of seventeenth century projects with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, She has played with viol consort Concordia since its founding, and has built chamber music and recital partnerships with a number of distinguished artists. She retains a strong international connection with William Christie鈥檚 Les Arts Florissants, Her research interests have led to critically acclaimed recordings of Lawes, Purcell and Dowland, and to develop ideas such as the Masque of Moments which she took to festivals in England and Germany in 2007-8. She taught for two years at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, is professor of Lute at the Royal Academy of Music, and a Lecturer in Performance and Head of Early Music at Southampton University.