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.

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 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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Thibaut de Champagne, that is, Count of Champagne, King of Navarra, crusader, and wonderful trouvère/songwriter. The recital by Anne Azéma and Shira Kammen was a brilliant tour de force, and saluted as such by the press: “Rich and varied…light and gracious…music filled with joy and hope…a vielle full of energy…a clear and pearly voice…Bravo and thanks!”

The concert, number two in Camerata’s series of five commissions from Reims, was given in the Count of Champagne’s residency — just about the best location imaginable. And the post-concert bubbly, provided by old Thibaut’s modern descendants (the famous Taittinger brand) rounded off everything to a T (bad pun, sorry).

Our residency is at full steam, with three more programs to go. You can read the review of the Thibaut concert here.

The honor was great indeed, as the Reims Festival invited an American ensemble (us) to celebrate the 800th anniversary of its mind-boggling cathedral with a series of five different musical programs.

And the awe and humility we felt was intense as we filed into the cathedral choir, five singers, two sackbuts, and director Anne Azéma, to sing the monumental Messe de Notre Dame, written circa 1365 for the cathedral by that greatest of geniuses, Guillaume de Machaut.

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…gushed the Boston Globe reviewer after he attended Camerata’s “Roman de Fauvel” concert at the Boston Early Music Festival. And who are we (says Fauvel, slyly, with just a hint of a whinny) to disagree?

Thanks to our wonderful Fauvel cast: Azéma, Collver, Barret, Cohen, Kammen, and Lundahl, and to our brave volunteers, and to tech wizard David Griesinger, for a riotous feast of imagery, medieval music, and horsey jokes. The audience responded to the mix with a standing ovation, and cheers, and whistles.

And now, out-of-Boston friends and presenters, why not invite Fauvel into your living room, stable, or concert hall? We guarantee to leave traces…

The full text of the review is here.

Our photo: Michael Collver delivers a lecture to the Junior League.