For its final video concert of the season, the
Texas Early Music Project presents stories from an extremely timely source:
The Decameron by
Giovanni Boccaccio, a book of tales told by a group of young adults escaping the Black Death during the 1348 epidemic by sheltering in a villa just outside Florence. KMFA’s
Sara Schneider provides a bit of historical background to
The Decameron and the music of the period, then the action begins and we catch up with the intrepid group of plague-fleeing characters, accompanied with music composed by
Gherardello da Firenze,
Lorenzo da Firenze,
Francesco Landini, and more.Still not convinced that this is a sonic wonderment perfectly suited to herald our exit from history's
latest pandemic? Still thinking that this concert is something other than early-music glory so divinely embodied that it'll thrill anything you have that even resembles a soul? Doubt no more.Point one: The librettist is Wellesley College's
Dr. Larry Rosenwald. Point two: These tales are narrated by Austin's own
Marc Pouhé. Final point to, as they say,
seal the
deal:
This preview trailer.Conclusion:
Danny Johnson, you're a mensch.