MedFest - Medieval Festival in Lombardy is an interdisciplinary review organized with the aim of enhancing the medieval heritage of Lombardy.

The fourth edition of MedFest2025 has gothic as its keyword. 
Used by Renaissance intellectuals in a derogatory sense, to qualify the previous centuries as "barbarians," the term gothic became the mark of an entire era, associated with the  style that revolutionized architecture - but also music, poetry, and philosophical and theological reflection -  beginning in the 12th century. 

APPOINTMENTS AT MONZA'S CIVIC MUSEUMS:
Tuesday, Sept. 9
Exceptional opening of the Museum  | From 6.00 to 21.00
(admission fee)

Abelard and Heloise. Philosophy, Love and Literature| 6 p.m. | Conference Room
(free admission, reservation requiredwww.medfestlombardia.com | info@medfestlombardia.com  
Lecture by Rossana Guglielmetti, writer and professor of Medieval Latin Literature at the University of Milan

In 12th-century Paris, Peter Abelard established himself as a brilliant teacher and experienced a tormented love affair with Heloise, which would have serious consequences for both of them. Their affairs are told mainly in the famous epistolary, known for its emotional depth and stylistic sophistication. Through these letters we follow their journey as lovers, spouses and finally monks, as we witness the tensions caused by Abelard's innovative thinking, which clashed with the more conservative sectors of the time.

I, Heloise. A Medieval Story | 9 p.m. | Cloister
(free admission, reservations required www.medfestlombardia.com | info@medfestlombardia.com  
The theatrical and musical show retells the famous love story between Abelard, philosopher and teacher, and Heloise, his student. Based on letters, autobiographies and contemporary accounts, the tale adopts Heloise's point of view, highlighting her emotional strength and claim to personal freedom. Giving voice to the narrative are medieval vocal and instrumental music, including songs composed by Abelard himself, which accompany and amplify the inner experience of the protagonist. An intense and human portrait of one of the most fascinating female figures of the Middle Ages.

With:
Ancilla Oggioni, actress
Matteo Zenatti voice, harp
Elisabetta de Mircovich voice, viella
 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

I Carmina Burana: A Double Revolution | 6 pm.00 | Conference Room
(free admission, reservations required www.medfestlombardia.com | info@medfestlombardia.com  
Lecture by Davide Daolmi, writer and associate professor of History of Music Theories and History of Medieval and Renaissance Music in the Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Milan.  

The famous medieval codex inspired Carl Orff's work of the same name, which in turn contributed to the rediscovery of early music. The manuscript from which Orff drew the texts for his cantata is not one of many medieval codices of Latin poetry, but the first songbook ever conceived: a genre that would later have extraordinary fortune, with the troubadours and Dante.  

VAGANTES - Music and Poetry from "Carmina Burana" | 9 p.m. | Cloister Civic Museums 
(free admission, reservations required www.medfestlombardia.com | info@medfestlombardia.com  
(Concert)With the document called "Autentica habita," in 1158 Frederick Barbarossa granted privileges and immunities to those students now called "clerici vagantes," figures on the borderline between jester-poets and ecclesiastics. These students and their learned teachers left us a poetic and musical repertoire of extreme interest to European culture, preserved mainly in manuscripts known as Codex Buranus or Carmina Burana. This repertoire was widely known in Europe, and of it a selection is offered that gives us a picture of a Middle Ages full of color and fun, enriched by biting satire and social criticism. 

Ensemble Murmur Mori: 
Mirko Virginio Volpe singing, symphonia, guiterne, drum 
Silvia Kuro singing, portative organ, bells, tambourine 
Martino Ismaele Arosio transverse flutes
Matteo Brusa citola, drum 

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