Falsetti rarissimi

Musicians involved: 3 (falsetto voice, organ, theorbo, guitar, lirone)

During his journey in 1608, the Englishman Thomas Coryat, regardeed as the pionier of the Grand Tour, stopped in  Venice, where he had the occasion to hear the music played during St Roch’s celebrations.

Among the excellent musicians which he recalls having heard (such as Giovanni Gabrieli and the singer Bartolomeo Barbarino), he is especially impressed by a falsetto singer – most probably Vido Rovetto, « the falsetto from Piove » – to the point that he will state in his diary that he « had such a peerless and (as I may in a manner say) such a supernaturall voice for sweetnesse, that I think there was never a better singer in all the world».

Unfortunately, no biographical research has been done on Rovetto, who is to this day absent from any dictionary of music or encyclopedia.

In 1608 another falsetto, Luca Conforti, died in Rome : he is mainly known today as the author of a method for vocal diminution, « Breve et facile maniera […] », but in his time he was regarded as a virtuoso singer and one of the best « falsetti rarissimi » (exquisite falsetti) which could be heard in Rome.

These two singers have left us some compositions of their own, printed in several collections between 1588 and 1625. These testify the last generations of virtuoso professionals of the falsetto voice, which will return to fame only during the 20th and 21st centuries. However, their names and works remain widely unknown.

This program is dedicated to the works of G. L. Conforti and V. Rovetto which, added to those of contemporary composers such as B. Barbarino and Giulio Caccini, will guide us to rediscover their singing style, marked as much by the sweetness of their tone as by the virtuosity of their ornements and diminutions.