Femina-The many faces of a woman
Women at the heart of music.
They composed, ruled, loved, and suffered. For centuries, the world forgot their names. Femina gives them back their voice.
With Femina, the Pera Ensemble journeys through the many faces of womanhood in music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque: music by women, about women, for women. From the Byzantine poet and composer Kassia to the visionary Hildegard von Bingen, from the fearless Barbara Strozzi — the most prolific female composer of the Venetian Baroque — to Dilhayat Kalfa, the refined voice of the Ottoman court. And Anne Boleyn, the tragic queen whose song history could never silence. But men, too, transformed women into immortal sound: as muses, queens, lovers, heroines. Monteverdi, Cavalli, Rossi — each created unforgettable female figures whose voices still resonate across the centuries.
At the heart of the programme lies a sensational rediscovery: Canto Fatima, an anonymous cantata uncovered by Mehmet C. Yeşilçay. It tells the true story of a young woman abducted by an Ottoman pirate — himself a Calabrian living between two worlds. A story from the Mediterranean, from the Levant: filled with the colours of legend, and yet entirely true.
And then there is Ali Ufki. Once Wojciech Bobowski from Lemberg, sold as a slave to the Sultan’s court, converted to Islam, he became musician, poet, and bridge-builder between East and West. He, too, preserved women’s voices — songs that without him would have disappeared forever.
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli becomes them all: Kassia, Hildegard, Fatima, Anne Boleyn. She is every woman. Every voice. Femina is a rediscovery. A homage. A journey through forgotten worlds of women, between Orient and Occident, memory and imagination, history and music.
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli ist Kassia, Hildegard, Fatima, Anne Boleyn. Sie ist alle.
Femina is a rediscovery. And a homage.
“A journey through the joys, sorrows, and whims of love.” Stereo
Maximum ensemble size: 12 musicians Minimum ensemble size: 7 musicians Music by Barbara Strozzi, Handel, Vivaldi, Porpora, Giacomelli, Selim III, Dilhayat Kalfa, and Ali Ufki Musical direction: Mehmet C. Yeşilçay Instrumentation: violin, viola da gamba, baroque guitar, theorbo, double bass, harpsichord, oud, ney, qanun, percussion
Soloist: Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, soprano, Italy Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, Sopran, Italien
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and graduated with distinction from the G. Frescobaldi Conservatory in Ferrara. She has enjoyed a long-standing artistic collaboration with Mehmet C. Yeşilçay and the Pera Ensemble, resulting in numerous CD recordings.
