I devoted this week’s episode to Italian music and culture.  I performed selections by Vivaldi, Mercadante, and Genin and discuss music in Dante’s “Commedia,” one of the most fascinating topics I’ve researched and written about.

Genin, Theme and Variations on Carnival of Venice

Vivaldi, Largo from Concerto in C Major for piccolo and orchestra (with my recording of the piano part)

Mercadante, Variations on Rossini’s “Per cara quest’anima” from Armida

Talk on Dante with musical examples

For further reading, here’s the link to my paper “The Music of Dante’s Purgatorio” in Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies

https://hortulus-journal.com/journal/volume-1-number-1-2005/