Songs from Shylocks Venice

I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Marking the 500th anniversary of the establishment of the Venetian Ghetto (1516 – 2016)
In collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. and the Italian Cultural Institute in NY

Shylock’s Venice was a crucible of cultures and a magnet for immigration, where – in spite of pervasive prejudice – Spanish and German Jews joined their native Italian co-religionists who traced their presence on the Peninsula back to the Roman Empire. Whether escaping repression or coming to find work as merchants or as Hebrew and Kabbalah teachers, Jews profoundly influenced the cultural crossover of 16th century Venice. Songs from Shylock’s Venice conjures the sights and sounds of a day in the life of Shylock, in and out of the Jewish quarter, in the vibrant, colorful world that was Renaissance Venice.

Lucidarium is a noted Renaissance music ensemble based in Italy and Switzerland, known for its distinct sound, its musicological research and the use of original instruments. The concert will feature the singer and cantor Enrico Fink and a seldom performed repertoire in Italian, Hebrew, Yiddish and Spanish.

Artists
Enrico Fink: voice, narrator, Gloria Moretti, Anna Pia Capurso, voice, Avery Gosfield, Marco Ferrari: Renaissance Winds, Francis Biggi: lute, colascione, viola da mano, Massimiliano Dragoni: percussion, hammer dulcimer (Oleguer Aymami, Viola da Gamba; Lior Liebovici, voice

Soloist
A distinguished voice in Italian Jewish music, Enrico Fink is the cultural counselor of the Jewish Community of Florence and appeares regularly as performer and educator in Europe and in the U.S where he has held seminars at Yale University, Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Jewish themes appear prominently in his eclectic discography: Klezmer – Cronache di viaggi, Lokshen – Patrilineare, Il Ritorno Alla Fede del Cantante di Jazz, La Istoria de Purim, with Ensemble Lucidarium. In 2011 he edited La Casa dei Canti, a CD of old and new recordings of Florentine Jewish musical traditions.

The Ensemble
Lucidarium specializes in bringing little-known repertoires from the Renaissance and Middle Ages back to life in an entertaining, engaging way designed for a 21st century public. This unique combination of cutting-edge research and high-energy, spontaneous performance-style has earned them kudos from the international press:

“… in Ensemble Lucidarium’s interpretation, the music did not seem at all ‘historical:’ relaxed and lustfully played, it seemed as fresh as on the first day.” (BLZ Basel)

Based in Geneva and Milan, Lucidarium has been awarded grants from the European Association for Jewish Culture, the Rothschild Foundation, Pro Helvetia, the Brandeis/Hadassah Foundation and the Canton of Geneva, and regularly receives support from Swiss and Italian institutions around the world.

Next to hundreds of concerts to date in important early music festivals, Lucidarium makes frequent “crossovers” into Jewish, world and classical music venues. Recent performances include “Hombres de Maiz,” for the Festival Caminos at the Quai Branly Ethnographic Museum (Paris); “Ninfale” at the Boston Early Music Festival; and “The Babel Project” at Yiddish Summer Weimar. Lucidarium’s latest project, Diwan, is a program exploring the links between the traditional Arab repertoire and the music of the Italian trecento.