Dr. Virginia Christy Lamothe, assistant professor of musicology, recently presented a paper titled “Hearing the Demon’s Song: The Condemned Magic of Tommaso Campanella and the Operas of the Barberini Court” at the Esoterism in Music Symposium. The symposium was held Feb. 21-23 at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York.
Lamothe’s paper focused on spiritual and philosophical ideas of the controversial Renaissance theologian, Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639). The connections between these ideas and his connections to the Barberini Papal court are explored in the paper to help scholars better understand the composition and performance practice techniques in the sacred operas of the Barberini court, Sant’Alessio (1634) and San Bonifatio (1638).
