The soprano Donella Del Monaco in an 18th Century costume, accompanied by a trio (18th Century flute-'cello-guitar) , performs arias and pieces from the Venetian School, including the delightful and amusing "Canzoni da Battello" (Boating Songs) which she came across in her personal research and which she performs in various musical arrangements. The "Canzoni" were admired even by Mozart during His stay in Italy, and were composed to enliven the parties held in the villas of the aristocracy , or the great public celebrations on boats and barges (from which they took their name). They portray the characters of 18th Century Venice in comic ' squabbles' and disputes, but also speak to us of love with passion and often with mischievous eroticism. There is also a more theatrical version where Donella Del Monaco will be flanked by two figures of the 'Comedia de l'Arte' - a Harlequin and a Colombina who move with the age- old gestures characteristic of the two characters of the Theatre of the Venetian School. This theatre-recital was presented at the Biennial Theatre Festival before being taken by Donella to various prestigious theatres and festivals , including: the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Deutches Theater in Munich (Germany), the Grand Opera House in Philadelphia (USA), concerts at the University of Metz (France) and the Festival of Dubrovnik (Croatia). The performance, or part of it, was filmed by many television channels from Italy and abroad including the RAI in Italy, CBS in America, Antenne 2 in France and Tokyo Broadcasting Television in Japan.