Magnificat

The coming season marks the 10th anniversary of Catherine Webster's first appearances with Magnificat. Her debut in our performances of the music of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani in December 1999 was especially memorable and she has been a fixture in Magnificat productions ever since. In October she will sing the role of Alcina in Francesca Caccini's La Liberazione di Ruggiero. The Alcina role features the extraordinary "complaint", in which the evil but alluring sorceress, upon the news that Ruggiero has forsaken her to return to Bradamante and to his soldierly duties, attempts to change his mind first through pleading, then seduction, Read More...

Isabella Leonarda Sonata duodecima (1693) Magnificat Rob Diggins, violin Warren Stewart, violoncello David Tayler, theorbo Hanneke van Proosdij, organ live, unedited performance February 2, 2003 St. Gregory Nyssen Church San Francisco CA [audio http://votetrustusa.org/Magnificat/Isabella%20Sonata%2012%20030202.mp3] Download this Track In 1724, the eminent theorist and collector music Sébastian de Brossard wrote in praise of the works of Isabella Leonarda that “all of the works of this illustrious and incomparable composer are so beautiful, so gracious, so brilliant and at the same time so knowledgeable and so wise, that my great regret is in not having them all.” Isabella’s instrumental works, which appeared in 1693, are apparently the earliest published sonatas by a woman.  The collection consists Read More...