Milton in Love: Music in the Eternal City

Atalante in baroque costume

April 7, 2019 | 3:00PM
Logan Center for the Arts

2 pm pre-concert lecture on Milton’s sojourn through Rome

With sumptuous costumes and semi-staged performances, the British consort Atalante is reviving a repertoire of early Baroque laments that have languished in the Vatican library for centuries. The group is led by acclaimed early music scholar Erin Headley on the lirone, a multi-stringed bowed instrument with a uniquely beautiful sound. Together with a chitarrone, triple harp, baroque guitar, harpsichord, and viola da gamba, the ensemble supports a trio of female voices who bring to life a program of ultra-expressive laments.

Milton in Love paints a portrait of the English poet John Milton’s sojourn through Rome where he fraternized with the Illuminati, attended opera and oratorios, and became enamored with the singing of soprano Leonora Baroni. The laments display the sensuality, ecstasy, and eroticism of early Baroque Rome, and the performances by Headley and her ensemble are sure to surprise and delight audiences as well.

Atalante presents Milton in Love: Music in the Eternal City on Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm in the Logan Center Performance Hall. Prior to the performance, students from Professor Robert Kendrick’s graduate seminar will deliver a lecture on Milton’s encounter with Italian music.