ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions Free Public Lecture/Performance
“Emotion, symbols, performance in the baroque period”, Davide Monti

Date: 26 May 2014
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Venue: The University of Melbourne Early Music Studio, 27 Royal Parade, Parkville

Art in the baroque offers an opportunity to represent the relationship between symbols of affects, in a fluent and ingenious way. This is brought to life in the gestures during the action of performance. This talk will investigate: How much of the codes of expression of the 17th century are still in our contemporary communication. Also, how are rules of rhetoric of the baroque period still effective in today’s performances?

Davide Monti is a highly flexible and charismatic violinist thanks to an eclectic education and to his collaborations with internationally renowned musicians and ensembles. Apart from his role as a soloist, he often works with both small groups and orchestras, being admired for his natural and risk-taking approach to music. A fundamental part of his aesthetic is researching improvisation and musical rhetoric which are applied fields in the art of historically informed performances. This is what he teaches during masterclasses and lectures around the world. His violin is an Italian instrument from the beginning of the 18th century, kindly on loan from the Paternostro family.