THE ART OF FEMALE POWER - THE FEMALE POWER OF ART
Influential Women of the Renaissance
The concert project The Art of Female Power – The Power of Female Art aims to open up a new perspective: Drawing on outstanding female figures from the visual arts, literature, and history, it seeks to shed new light on the social roles of women in the early modern period.
Women not only frequently served as mothers, muses, and patrons, but were also politically, artistically, or creatively active in their own right. In doing so, women faced significantly greater resistance, a fact evidenced not least by the fact that we know very little or nothing at all about many of them. Even a position of distinction by birth was no guarantee of adequate recognition and appreciation of one’s own achievements.
The Art of Female Power focuses, on the one hand, on women who, through their elevated positions, had the opportunity to make their own mark, or who, due to special qualities such as beauty or intelligence, became the subject of artistic representation. The achievements of all these women will be examined particularly against the backdrop of the specific obstacles they faced.
SCHEDULE 2026/27
March 20–22, 2026 – UdK Berlin – #1 Mona Lisa's Mystic Smile
April 18, 2026 - Sophienkirche - #2 Love's Secret: Elizabeth I
June 28, 2026 - Villa Elisabeth - #3 Erzsébet Báthory - Countess Dracula?
September 20, 2026 - #4 Mary
Jan. 23, 2027 - #5 Joan of Arc
#3 Erzsébet Báthory – Countess Dracula?
Concert on May 29, 2026, at Villa Elisabeth (Berlin Mitte)
Murderer or Victim of Slander?
Was she really a “COUNTESS DRACULA,” or the victim of a political intrigue?
Erszébet Báthory-Nádasdy (1560–1614) is in no way inferior to the French child murderer and contemporary of Joan of Arc when it comes to the number of her victims. She is said to have tortured and killed some 600 girls in her various castles, estates, and residences. After her husband’s death, Báthory inherited his entire fortune and subsequently assumed the role of head of the family—a position rather atypical for a woman. She displayed inhuman cruelty toward her subjects. Follow Capella de la Torre into the dark dungeons of a pitch-black widow—with Katharina Bäuml by your side, you have nothing to fear!
Music from Hungary and the surrounding region, compositions by Balint Bakfark, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Giuseppa da Biabo, Jacobus Gallus, from the Codex Caioni, and others.
#2 Love's Secret
Concert on April 18, 2026, at Sophienkirche in Berlin
"Love's Secret" explores the music surrounding Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen—she was born in 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. From 1558 until her death in 1603, she reigned as Queen of England and Ireland. Her 45-year reign went down in history as the Elizabethan era—a golden age of art, literature, and science.
Poets such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson shaped the literature of the era, while composers such as John Dowland, Thomas Ravenscroft, and Anthony Holborne shaped the sound of the time. Scientifically and politically, too, the era was marked by new beginnings: Francis Bacon developed new foundations of scientific thought, and the navigator Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe. It was also during this time that the first English colony in North America was established, named Virginia in honor of the queen.
The epithet “Virgin Queen” became a central element of Elizabeth’s political image. She reigned without a husband and turned her status into a symbol of independence and power. To this day, researchers continue to explore the question of what lies behind this myth.
#1 Mona Lisa's Mysterious Smile
Concerts and workshops with Capella de la Torre and JAM
To this day, there is endless speculation about who lies behind the enigmatic figure of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. One popular theory suggests that the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of Da Vinci as a woman. Further research identifies her with the Tuscan noblewoman Caterina Sforza (1463–1509) or even with the “prima donna del mondo,” Isabella d’Este (1474–1539), one of the most significant patrons and art collectors of the Italian Renaissance to this day.
From March 20–22, 2026, these questions will be explored at the UdK Berlin—with music from the circles of Leonardo da Vinci, Caterina Sforza, and Isabella d’Este, among others, being performed and sung.
Workshop: Jam Sessions
The JAM-SESSIONS offer a solid introduction to early music, particularly the repertoire of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A new feature of this approach is the use of modern instruments alongside historical instruments and vocal parts, enabling participants to make music together at a high level right from the start.
From March 20–22, 2026, we will meet in Berlin, at the University of the Arts, for workshops and performances featuring music ranging from Dowland to Monteverdi. In collaboration with the internationally renowned top-tier ensemble Capella de la Torre and members of the Youth Ensemble for Early Music (JAM)—led by Katharina Bäuml and Hille Wippermann—the workshop is aimed at “Jugend musiziert” participants, students, teachers, and anyone else interested in early music.
The project is a collaboration between Capella de la Torre and the Landesmusikrat Berlin.
