Festival opening and the screening of the film Hebreo: The Search for Salomone Rossi
Yugoslav cinematheque
26. January 2019
On 26th January 2019, Rossi Fest opened with the screening of the film, by Italian director Jozef Roslitz, Hebreo: The Search for Salomone Rossi. After the film, in the hall of the Yugoslav Cinema, guests enjoyed the welcoming buffet.
In the period of the late Renaissance, at the height of Mantua's artistic splendor, a young Jewish violinist burst through the barriers of discrimination and became one of the most renowned composers and performers at the court of the Gonzaga dukes. In 1622 he revolutionized Jewish music with his Songs of Solomon, the first collection ever of originally composed music for Hebrew psalms and prayers. Yet very little is known about the personal and creative life of Salomone Rossi Hebreo - Salomone Rossi the Jew. In this documentary, the prize-winning vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta rehearses and performs Rossi's music in the magnificent town of Mantua, in preparation for a special concert in the Gonzaga dukes' Pleasure palace. With the help of expert historians and musicologists, they shed fascinating light on this elusive man and his extraordinary music.
"In this documentary, the prize-winning vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta rehearses and performs Rossi's music in the magnificent town of Mantua, in preparation for a special concert in the Gonzaga dukes' pleasure palace. With the help of expert historians and musicologists, they shed fascinating light on this elusive man and his extraordinary music.".
Joseph Rochlitz, director
Profeti della Quinta
Focusing on repertoire from the 16th and early 17th centuries, the ensemble Profeti della Quinta aims to create vivid and expressive performances for audiences today while, at the same time, considering period performance practices. From its core of five male singers, the ensemble collaborates regularly with instrumentalists and additional singers.
Ensemble Profeti della Quinta is based in Basel, Switzerland, where its members undertook further studies of early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The ensemble collaborates regularly with colleagues from Switzerland, Japan, and Australia, sharing with them similar musical ideas.
The ensemble has recorded two CDs of the music of the early Baroque Jewish-Italian composer Salomone Rossi, as well as the Penitential Psalms by Orlando di Lasso. Profeti della Quinta has also premiered and recorded two works composed especially for the ensemble by Elam Rotem, Rappresentatione di Giuseppe e i suoi fratelli and Quia amore langueo. In addition, they are featured in a documentary film by Joseph Rochlitz, Hebreo: The Search for Salomone Rossi, and have had their concerts broadcast by numerous international radio stations.
Profeti della Quinta have been active in performing and researching hitherto neglected repertoire, such as Emilio de' Cavalieri's Lamentations (1600) and Salomone Rossi's Hashirim asher li'Shlomo (1623), the first publication of polyphony in Hebrew, which they also recorded to critical acclaim. In 2011, Ensemble Profeti della Quinta won the York Early Music Young Artists Competition and has since toured Europe, North America, Japan, China, and Israel. It has performed in prestigious festivals and venues, such as the Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, the Shanghai Concert Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
