During the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, many Jews moved to new countries and sought to live in safety there. The Duarte family moved to Antwerp, where Leonora was born several generations later into a family who had become successful and respected merchants with a keen interest in, and patronage of, the visual arts and of music. Although they were officially converso (Jews who had converted to Catholicism in order to settle in their new country) it seems they held to their Jewish faith and practises, not as secretly as one might expect.
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The Lupo family moved first to Italy, but later were recruited to Henry VIII’s court as he sought to expand his musical prowess. For over 100 years the Lupo family composed and played at the royal court in a country where it was illegal for a Jew to live.
This programme explores the music of two composers living and working prominently in countries where their faith was illegal - both hiding, but in plain sight.