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Collegium Vocale Gent (photo Agnese Gulbe)
Collegium Vocale Gent (photo Agnese Gulbe)

A ladder to paradise

Collegium Vocale Gent + lecture by Saskia Törnqvist
Sat 9 May 2026 20:15 - 21:30
Sat 9 May 2026
20:15 - 21:30
  • Sat 9 May 2026
    20:15 - 21:30
    Grote Zaal
    Tickets

Program

19.00 / Early Music lecture (Dutch spoken)
Rivalry and sophistication in the Italian madrigal by Saskia Törnqvist

20.15 / Main programme
Sacred and secular madrigals by Lodovico Agostini, Giovanni Battista Bovicelli, Scipione Stella, Giovanni de Macque, Alessandro Striggio, Girolamo dalla Casa, Carlo Gesualdo, Fabritio Fillimarino and Girolamo Frescobaldi

Credits

Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe conductor

Repentance and divine grace

In 1586, less than a year before his death, Vincente I Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua, received something special. His music teacher Agostini had composed a work for him, Le lagrime del peccatore. Set to deeply personal texts, revealing much about Gonzaga as an individual, the work explored the need for repentance and divine grace to attain paradise. Gonzaga had them performed in his private chapel. Flanked by music of his contemporaries, Collegium Vocale Gent presents this exceptional composition.

Warm and light in tone, that’s how the performances of early music ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent are praised. Since its founding in 1970 by conductor Philippe Herreweghe, the ensemble has gained international acclaim with music by composers such as Di Lasso, Monteverdi, and Gesualdo. On this occasion, the spotlight is on music by Ludovico Agostini, a contemporary of Di Lasso.

7 p.m. / Early Music lecture (Dutch spoken) by Saskia Törnqvist
Rivalry and sophistication in the Italian madrigal
The 16th-century madrigal culture flourished at various courts in northern Italy where humanist ideas were rampant. Ferrara, with the House of Este, and Mantua, with the House of Gonzaga, were important epicentres for madrigal composers, partly because of the sensational quality of the singers. Both courts kept a keen eye on each other, constantly trying to outdo one another. Not just with new musical experiments but also with innovations in other art forms. This lecture draws parallels between the exquisite madrigal culture of Ferrara and Mantua and the stylistic figures in poetry and the visual arts.

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Philippe Herreweghe (photo Michiel Hendryckx)
Philippe Herreweghe (photo Michiel Hendryckx)
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Collegium Vocale Gent (photo Agnese Gulbe)
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Saskia Törnqvist
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Collegium Vocale Gent (photo Eric de Mildt)
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