The ‘Secret’ is out: Pegasus Early Music opens its 20th season

Anyone familiar with the concerts of Pegasus Early Music can expect to hear performers whose musicianship approaches the stratospheric.

In the case of “The Secret Music,” its Sept. 29 season opener, the sounds themselves approached the stratospheric, as three outstanding female voices blended in divine harmony.

The keeper of this secret music was the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso II. He ruled his16^th century northern Italian duchy with an iron hand, but he also loved music and was willing to pay for it. Among Alfonso’s 40 to 50 court musicians were the “three ladies,” three noblewomen who gave private concerts for the duke and his select audience.

This secret music was not a secret for long. Three ladies concerts became all the rage in Italy and France under the name “Concerti delle Donne,” and the singers were possibly the first female professional touring musicians.

Many of the most prominent composers of the 1500s and 1600s were inspired to write for the “Concerti delle Donne.” The first was Luzzasco Luzzaschi of the Ferrarese court, and the list grew to include Luca Marenzio, Giulio Caccini, and, most famous of all, Claudio Monteverdi, represented here with a piece he wrote at age 17.

There were also two notable female composers: Barbara Strozzi (a Pegasus favorite), whose vocal music was extremely popular in the 17^th century; and Francesca Caccini, daughter of Giulio, who wrote the first Italian opera to be performed outside of Italy.

“Judging from the music written for the ‘three ladies,’ they must have been virtuosic singers,” artistic director Deborah Fox says. “The vocal range of some parts is over two octaves. The music is highly ornamented, and the voices often alternate in close harmony. It’s total jazz.”

Based on last Sunday’s concert, it’s also total bliss, and I’m glad this music is not secret anymore. Sopranos Laura Heimes and Clara Rottsolk and mezzo-soprano Ashley Mulcahy presented one delightful surprise after another, blending perfectly and playing off each other expertly, whether the music required a light, sweet touch or a sense of drama.

Each singer made the most of a solo opportunity as well, with Rottsolk’s performance of Strozzi’s “Che si può fare?” (“What can you do?”) a highlight of the concert. This song, really a mini cantata that runs the emotional gamut from violent anger to resignation, had the point and force of a great operatic aria.

The singers were accompanied by Fox on lutes, Christa Patton on harp, and David Morris switching between the viola da gamba—an ancestor of the cello—and the much rarer lirone, a string instrument with a flattened bridge that can produce organ-like chords. The sound of this ear-tickling ensemble was delicate or robust as required, whether accompanying the vocal delights or heard in several instrumental pieces.

This was the first Pegasus concert performed at Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, but I hope it isn’t the last. The sanctuary’s warm acoustics suited this intimate music perfectly. I doubt the Duke of Ferrara ever heard anything better.

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Fox began Pegasus modestly in 2005 with concerts of 16^th and 17^th century European chamber music. “The Secret Music” introduced Pegasus’s 2024-2025 season, which happens to be its 20^th—somewhat to Fox’s surprise.

 “I can hardly believe it,” she says, “but we have produced more than 100 concerts.”

Chamber music of the 16^th through 18^th centuries is still the backbone of Pegasus concerts, but the programs have grown to include larger ensembles, the occasional Baroque dancer, and two opera productions, Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” and Monteverdi’s “Orfeo.”A Pegasus Rising concert series spotlights talented young musicians and will return on Nov. 9 with a lute recital by Charles Iner.

The series’ national reputation ensures that many of the best early music performers, including international star lutenist and Eastman faculty member Paul O’Dette, return to perform year after year. Fox also credits a large and loyal audience (very much present at last Sunday’s opening concert), which helped Pegasus not only to survive the COVID pandemic, but also to thrive afterwards.

The remaining concerts in the 2024-25 series are:

■ Oct. 27: Knight Music. Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble Night Music performs favorite concertos and suites by J.S. Bach, Quantz, and Telemann (his Don Quixote, hence the punning title).

■ Feb. 23: Curiouser and Curiouser, with Julie Andrijeski and her Wonder Chamber Project featuring unusual music for violin and its higher-pitched relative, the quinton.

■ April 6: the Monteverdi Vespersof 1610, with O’Dette leading 25 instrumentalists and singers. This magnificent choral work hasn’t been performed in Rochester for 10 years—that is, since Pegasus last presented it. Fox has described the Monteverdi Vespers as “maybe my favorite piece by my favorite composer.” 

■ May 11: Marches and Minuets for baroque oboes and bassoons by 17^th and 18^th century French composers, followed by a Pegasus 20^th birthday party.

David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].