Mario Sarrechia (harpsichord, virginal)
Lieselot de Wilde (soprano)
Justin Glaie (lute)

Antwerp, around the middle of the 17th century. Music issues from an imposing house on the Meir. Inside the house, paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Brueghel, Vermeer and Tintoretto hang everywhere.

A small but international group seated close to the fireplace is listening to a concert arranged especially for them. Francisca Duarte (1619-1678), who lives in the house, plays one of the many Ruckers-Couchet harpsichords and virginals owned by the Duarte family.

She has chosen the music carefully: there are works from old collections of manuscripts compiled for and by the Duarte family, including music by John Bull and arrangements of dances and songs, as well as new repertoire by harpsichord virtuosos.

The music on this CD is structured like a concert that Francisca Duarte might have given.

Although Franciscas talent was exceptional, she was just one of many Antwerp citizens who could play the harpsichord well; competence on the harpsichord was an important part of the education of the daughters of the wealthy middle-class in the 16th and 17th centuries. Music created harmony in life, and its playing encouraged elegance.