Cappella Clausura Presents Video Production of Chiara Cozzolani’s ‘Magnificat’

By Chris Ruel

Music continues to find a way during the pandemic, this time with Boston-based Cappella Clausura’s video production of the 17th-century female composer, Donna Chiara Margarita Cozzolani’s “Magnificat.”

The video is currently available for streaming on the organization’s website and YouTube.

Dedicated to presenting female composers’ works from the 9th-century to the present, Cappella Clausura’s production foregrounds Cozzolani’s circa 1650 masterpiece. Cozzolani wrote the work relating the Annunciation story according to the Gospel of Luke for Vespers service while cloistered in the convent of Santa Radegonda, Milan.

From start to finish, filming and editing the 10-minute piece took six months. Cappella Clausura Director Amelia LeClair recorded herself conducting in silence before sending the video to Theorbo player Catherine Liddell for the basso continuo track. With the foundation laid, 17 Capella Clausura vocalists recorded their individual parts. Videographer Christopher Pitts, in tight coordination with LeClair, expertly stitched the videos together.

“This was a truly monumental task and Chris and I spent countless hours on Facetime calls with his iPhone camera aimed at his computer screen getting this video just right,” said LeClair in the organization’s press release. “We are incredibly proud of the final product and grateful for Chris, our audio engineer James Zaner, and all of the performers who took part in this piece.”

Founded in 2004 by Choral Director Amelia LeClair to research, study, and perform the music of women composers, award-winning Cappella Clausura brings exquisite performances of music by women to today’s audiences, fostering an appreciation of the role of women as composers throughout history, and bringing women composers into the classical canon.

Categories

IndieOpera