Luzzasco Luzzaschi: I’ mi son giovinetta, Sophie Junker and Sherezade Panthaki, Concerto delle Donne

The virtuoso duet from Luzzaschi’s “Concerto delle donne“ book, 1601. Sophie Junker and Sherzade Panthaki, sopranos Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba Hanneke van Proosdi, baroque organ David Tayler, archlute From Wikipedia: The concerto delle donne (the ’ensemble of ladies’; also concerto di donne or concerto delle (or di) dame) was a group of professional female singers in the late Italian Renaissance, primarily in the court of Ferrara, Italy. Renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity, the ensemble was founded by Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, in 1580 and was active until the court was dissolved in 1597. Giacomo Vincenti, a music publisher, praised the women as “virtuose giovani“ (young virtuosas), echoing the sentiments of contemporaneous diarists and commentators. The origins of the ensemble lay in an amateur group of high-placed courtiers who performed for each other within the context of the Duke’s informal musica secreta (lit. ’secre