Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter
℗ 2017 Obsidian
Musica quinque vocum: No. 1, Tribulationes civitatum audivimus
Anonymous (attributed to Leonora d'Este)
Musica Secreta · Laurie Stras
Tribulationes civitatum audivimus, quas passae sunt, et defecimus;
Domine, peccata nostra nos fatigant.
Deus meus, respice humilitatem nostram, et libera nos,
Quia peccavimus tibi.
The CD cover shows a detail (in mirror image) from Pinturicchio's fresco “The Dispute of Saint Catherine of Alexandria”. We see Lucrezia Borgia, the mother of the alleged composer Leonora d'Este.
Pinturicchio was fond of a bit of theater. Triumphal arches in the style of Constantine the Great, Lucrezia Borgia as the model for the eloquent Caterina and her brother Cesare on the throne of Maximinus Daia, the Roman governor of Egypt.
The fresco is in Vatican Museums, Borgia Apartment, Room of the Saints.
Finally, two interesting links.
The first link refers to an interview with Laurie Stras in the Guardian.
The second link is a YouTube video in which Laurie Stras elaborates on her research and introduces the CD.
