Music and Wonder at the Medici Court: The 1589 Interludes for La pellegrina (Musical Meaning and Interpretation)

On May 2, 1589, the Medici court staged the most elaborate entertainment yet produced in Florence. The intermedii (interludes) performed during Girolamo Bargagli's comedy La pellegrina were the high point of a series of celebrations mobilized by the newly proclaimed Grand Duke of Florence—Ferdinando I de' Medici—for his wedding to Christine of Lorraine. These interludes were arguably the most well documented multimedia entertainment of the Medici principate. CD included.