The Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston will host a live concert of baroque monodies performed by altus Michael Starke and harpsichordist Mario Aschauer of Harmonia Stellarum Houston.

The invention of monody, a single voice accompanied by a chordal instrument, constitutes the quantum jump from the polyphonic Renaissance to the emotionally charged Baroque period. The new aesthetic of a dramatically charged solo voice paved the way for the development of opera. One of the spear heads of this musical revolution was Italian singer and composer Giulio Caccini, who not only contributed music to the first operas of music history, but also published perhaps the most influential collection of monodies: his Le nuove musiche (“New Musics”) of 1602. Our program features the highlights from this collection: love poetry by some of the most renowned Italian poets of Caccini’s time—Guarini, Strozzi, and Rinuccini—with the sweet melodies and lush harmonies of opera’s first star.

Modeled after the great court chapels of the 17th century, Harmonia Stellarum Houston is an ensemble of vocal and instrumental virtuosos who seek to inspire, entertain, and enlighten audiences with meaninful, historically informed performances of well-known as well as newly discovered musical masterworks.

This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.