Palestrina - Prince of Music
Palestrina - Prince of Music is an Italian/German 2009 music film directed by Georg Brintrup. The subject is the life and music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca.1525-1594), famous Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music. He is the best-known 16th-century composer of the Roman School. Filmed in March 2009 on locations mainly in and around L'Aquila and Rome, most of the ancient buildings and historical interiors in the city of L'Aquila were destroyed by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, only a few days after the end of shooting. Palestrina’s music in the film is directed by Flavio Colusso and the Roman Ensemble Seicentonovecento. The film was also titled The Liberation of Music or Die Befreiung der Musik when released in Germany.
Anastasia Bitsenko
Anastasia Bitsenko was born on 10 November 1875 in a small village in the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire. After she married she became engaged in revolutionary activities against the Tsarist monarchy early on. In 1902 she joined the Party of Socialists-Revolutionaries and participated in various assignments. In 1905 she assassinated the Russian Minister of War Viktor Sakharov, "the butcher of Saratov". Bitsenko was captured, trialed and initially sentenced to death; but her punishment was later reduced to exilement to the Nerchinsk penal colony. There she met five other women with a similar history, among them fellow revolutionary Maria Spiridonova. The infamous feats of these women received some significant fame in the populace and they became collectively known as the "Shesterka" ("The Six").