The Novosibirsk International Christmas Festival of the Arts always entices lovers of music. After 20 minutes of performance, the actors in medival guise invited everyone to come into the philharmonic hall and to settle more comfortably. It's hard to say which was more colorful -the highly theatrical opening or the late arrival of the guest harpsichordist from France.
Choral composition based on a comical song is typical of the madrigal.
In the subject matter of this piece, of everyday life in Venetian times, partly grotesque, partly satirical, laced with touches of folk comedy, Banchieri took from the heart of tradition. There were the rehearsals of the 'beginner singers' and the skits in which gentlewomen and cavaliers sing about each other's beauty or the beginning scene where everything seems as if it would fall apart with a real fight in a barge. The whole piece was interspersed with music by F. Caroso and the composer Banchieri himself, where the acts included pantomime and dance. The 'Barge' is its own world with its own characters, personas, their temperaments and perceptions of things and situations. The costume designer, Elena Velizhanina, added more color and freshness to the production.