from Québec: “This admirable feature-length film…reveals itself as a pure work of art.”
— Le Devoir, Montréal
La danse, l’amour puis la spiritualité
Voici revenu le Festival international du film sur l’art, FIFA pour les intimes.
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“A hypnotic power that makes one shiver,”
“thanks to the naked emotion of the voices and their songs,” says the reviewer in Le Figaro.
It was a beautiful, emotion-laden performance of “Borrowed Light” last night at Chaillot. Tero’s dancers and Camerata’s singers gave their all, and the tumultuous applause of the audience was totally deserved.
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On the third day of Christmas…
…the CyberCentaur sent to me this review of “A French Christmas,” from the Boston Classical Review:
Boston Camerata serves up a charming Christmas program,
by Aaron Keebaugh.
P.S: It’s an old photo.
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A review of “French Christmas” from…
Vivid ‘French Christmas’ from Boston Camerata
CAMBRIDGE – “The interesting thing about Christmas,” said artistic director Anne Azéma during the Boston Camerata’s Thursday concert, “is that things mix.” This is true in ways both obvious and obscure. Musical styles mix, of course, and no local group has better revealed the diverse styles and genres…
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Nice online review of the Camerata…
CAMERATA GOES TO A REUNION…
…Joel Cohen’s fiftieth, at Brown University, where we were invited in late May to perform excerpts of our “Carmina Burana” program. We asked Joel, who led Camerata soloists and the Brown Madrigal singers for the event, how he felt about performing a selection of medieval student songs, fifty years past his graduation day. “Actually, I am not introspecting that much,” he replied. “Just trying to get this show on the road.”
But the performance was, in fact a smash success, earning bravos and a standing ovation from the capacity crowd at Brown’s Andrews Hall. Congratulations to Brown’s guest-of-honor Joel and to all the performers, and mark your calendars as the full-length “Carmina Burana” production, this time under Anne Azéma’s direction, returns to Boston on October 27!
Blessed With Press This Summer
The Boston Camerata has been much in the news this summer.
As we have already noted, thousands attended our pair of outdoor Americana in Paris. Prior to those performances, Joel Cohen went on French TV to explain (in English!) what we were about to do; his segment begins at ~5:39 in the 12-minute program.
The respected Parisian daily La Croix also did a nice feature article/interview with Anne Azéma in anticipation of the events. And then read a rave review!
As a French-born American equally home in both cultures, Anne’s opinion is often sought after on general cultural/artistic issues affecting both sides of the Atlantic. A few days ago, Le Monde asked for her views on the state of the musical arts in America.
We expect more media coverage in the near future, and we’ll keep you up to date on the latest links.
THIS JUST IN! REIMS NEWSPAPER RUNS OUT OF ADJECTIVES! CAMERATA RETURNS HOME!
Just as “L’Union,” the main newspaper of Reims, seemingly exhausted its supply of superlatives in its daily (sometimes, twice a day) article about the Boston Camerata, our musicians sang their last medieval air (a Cantiga by Spanish King Alfonse the Wise), acknowledged the standing ovation, toasted each other and the festival with a final glass of champagne, packed their bags and headed home.
It was an intense, unflagging and totally involving ten days for us. FIVE programs, all different, all drawn from the rich medieval repertoire of Reims and the Champagne country, to be presented over such a short time period….nobody will deny that it wasn’t stressful. But it was also immensely rewarding.
We were offered a bottle of bubbly to take home after each show….that’s quite a few bottles. We were also showered with laudatory adjectives by the local press, such a cloudburst of praise as we have rarely gathered in such a small interval. From our recent scrapbook, here are a few:
“A key personality of medieval music” (referring to our own Anne Azéma); “a feast;” “totally seductive;” “luminous…perfect equilibrium;” “music full of joy and hope;” “magnificent;” “a dazzling concert;” “brilliant;” “a marvelous ensemble;” “five concerts in ten days: a flawless achievement;” and, once again, “what a feast!”
Thank you, Reims. We are still somewhat tipsy with praise, good drink, beautiful music, and your unwavering support and enthusiasm.
CAMERATA’S WOMEN DAZZLE THE CROWD AT REIMS
It was ladies’ night for the fourth event of the Boston Camerata Residency. Mesdames Azéma, Ellis-Kampani, Harley, Kammen, and Ansorg paid a tribute to the smiling Angel of Reims, and were rewarded with the following (excerpted) rave review the next morning:
“A dazzling concert last night by The Boston Camerata, which proved capable of adapting its performance style to the gamut of the works performed…In the oldest church of Reims, Saint Jacques, the group’s five women presented a program conceived as a witness to medieval devotion to the Virgin, and as a homage to the famous Angel of the cathedral, whose smile became newly visible.
“The program was organized in five sections, each one introduced in an informed yet accessible way by Anne Azéma….Religious music need not necessarily be austere, as the Boston Camerata so brilliantly demonstrated….one could imagine “Mainte chanson ai fait” as a round dance for young girls…Such a diversity within the repertoire calls for as variety in the interpretation, as Anne Azéma understood…
“How not to melt with tenderness at the magnificent interpretation of Jennifer Ellis Kampani? How not to be transported by Anne Azéma…or to resist tapping one’s feet at the dancing duets of the vielle players?…We await the next performance by this marvelous ensemble.”
An American booster who heard the performance in Reims has requested we bring it home, and so we shall. Stay tuned, please.
THE REIMS PROJECT: “INCOMPARABLE MUSICALITY”
“The third stop of the Boston Camerata’s marvelous itinerary,” in the words of the local newspaper, took place June 28 in the sumptuous, medieval reception hall of Reims’ Palais du Tau. Our third program of five, “Douce Dame Jolie,” devoted essentially to the secular music of Guillaume de Machaut, took the shape of a narrative love story. In the great poet’s own words, the audience heard the heart-rending essentials of his last love affair, with a very young woman named Péronne, interspersed with some of the most tender and passionate love songs ever penned by human hand.
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