Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is one of the world’s most beloved musical works. This year marks 300 years since Vivaldi composed the…
Deda Cristina Colonna and Mara Galassi present a musical monologue that recounts the turbulent life of Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626–1689). One of the most charismatic women of the seventeenth century, and an icon in women’s history. The performance is Confidencen's way of marking the 400th anniversary of Queen Christina's birth.
Christina abdicated the throne before the age of thirty, refused to marry, converted to Catholicism, and left Sweden.
Despite relinquishing her crown, she never gave up her royal status and spent the second part of her life in Rome, where she was a central figure in both the artistic and political scenes. She loved both men and women, surprised and scandalized, offended and disappointed, protected artists, and mingled with popes and cardinals.
Alltid densamme, (Always the same) was the motto of the Order of the Amaranth, founded by the young queen, whose members vowed to remain forever true to their ideals and never marry.
Christina of Sweden masterfully managed her public image and shaped her identity as queen, as a woman, and as an individual. Roles which the performance explores in constant evolution. The monologues are developed from original documents, including Christina’s autobiography, messages from cardinal Decio Azzolino, her correspondence with her father and mother, the Avvisi di Roma, and other original sources, selected in collaboration with Camilla Kandare, Ph.D., historian and scholar of Christina of Sweden.
On December 8, 2026, it will be 400 years since Queen Christina was born. She was the child who was never allowed to be a child, the Protestant who became a Catholic, the woman who was crowned king and the queen who abdicated her throne for a life in Rome. The same city Deda Cristina Colonna comes from.
Queen Christina’s coronation in 1650 was one of the most lavish and notable in Swedish history and her coronation procession, in 1650, was unique in many ways. not only as the most expensive and lavish in the country’s history. The entrance procession started from Ulriksdal Castle – which the queen used extensively during her short reign – and was so long that when the first ones arrived at the castle in Stockholm, the last ones had not yet left Ulriksdal. Christina’s coronation carriage can still be seen today in the 18th-century stables at Ulriksdal Castle.
Monologue
Deda Cristina Colonna
Baroque harp
Mara Galassi, performing on an Arpa Doppia, a baroque harp with multiple, parallel rows of strings
Music
Lahaeÿ/Philippe de la Hire
Jacques Arcadelt
Bernardo Pasquini
Arcangelo Corelli
Costume design
Monica Iacuzzo
Costume creation
Elena Romelli
Production
La Terza Prattica
A comfortable experience with us
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