Blue Heron continues its multi-year exploration of the Italian madrigal with “Tasso & Wert,” a new program featuring dramatic scenes and lyrics by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1544-95) set to music by the Flemish composer Giaches de Wert (1535-96) and others.

Taking place on Saturday, March 23 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, the performance also includes a pre-concert talk by expert music historian Emiliano Ricciardi at 7pm, who will discuss how Tasso’s poetry shaped the literary landscape of the time, its influence extending also to the visual arts and music.