A queen takes off her crown. Disguised in men’s clothes, she embarks on a quest over land and sea, searching for art, music and herself. Christina of Sweden was born exactly 400 years ago as the only legitimate heir of Gustav II Adolf, who died before her sixth birthday. She grew up as a capricious language prodigy with a hunger for books, religion, alchemy and science. She wanted to make Stockholm the Athens of the North. In 1654, she did something unprecedented: she abdicated and converted to Catholicism. The harpist Margret Köll follows Christina’s journey in music: from the Baltic to Innsbruck, where Cesti’s opera L’Argia celebrated her conversion, and on to Rome, her chosen place of exile. There, she became a source of inspiration for opera composers including Marazzoli and Rossi. Don’t expect run-of-the-mill arias: Köll resizes monumental works for the stage into music fit for a single instrument. The voice, stage set and orchestra become a subdued opera that blossoms miraculously on the arpa doppia a tre registri and the Welsh triple harp.
Program
Music by A. Cesti, M. Marazzoli, L. Rossi, D. Buxtehude, J.J. Froberger and others
Performers
Margret Köll, harps