When we think about the Middle Ages, the image of a jester springs to mind: this emblematic character is one of the clichés associated with the medieval world. In this program, we reflect on the public and private voices of these artists: how does it feel to be on such thin ice, navigating between the role of entertaining and the risks one takes when criticizing others? When does the jester know where to push boundaries or know with whom he can take off his mask? What happens when a jester is alone?

With origin in the sacred world and its mysticism, the jester becomes a political and social figure in the fourteenth century. In opposition to royal wisdom, his word is ironic, critical, insolent, and, most importantly, accepted. We can find similarities in musical works and the repertoire selected presents pieces which stand out through moralistic and commentative texts paired with humorous rhetorics.

Through our program, we aim to trace a portrait of an imaginary jester, through a selection of deep and refined madrigals, filled with metaphors, but also simpler songs in which quick wittiness overpowers any other aspect.

SOLLAZZO ENSEMBLE

Carine Tinney, soprano

Jonatan Alvarado, tenor

Lior Leibovici, tenor

Mara Winter, traverso

Roger Helou, organetto

Franziska Fleischanderl, psalterio

Christoph Sommer, lute

Anna Danilevskaia, vielle and direction