Boston Early Music Festival to complete residency in Salem

The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) opera company will complete its residency in Salem’s historic Old Town Hall (32 Derby Square) tomorrow as concludes its rehearsals  and preparations for its fourth annual Chamber Opera Series production at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music on Saturday and Sunday.

The performance will feature an international cast of singers, instrumentalists and Baroque dancers.

About 32 artists and crew members spent the last two weeks in Salem for intensive rehearsals. BEMF Executive Director, Kathleen Fay, a former resident of Salem now living in Marblehead, was also on hand for rehearsals and dancer and BEMF Choreographer, Carlos Fittante, is Salem native.

The following is the program for BEMF’s performance: Marc-Antoine Charpentier: La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers Marc-Antoine Charpentier: La Couronne de Fleurs

WHEN: Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 8pm
Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 3pm
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA

ARTISTS: Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors
Gilbert Blin, Stage Director
Anna Watkins, Costume Designer
Melinda Sullivan, Choreographer

Vocal Cast
Aaron Sheehan, Orphée
Mireille Asselin, Carrie Henneman Shaw, Michael Kelly, Olivier Laquerre, Thea Lobo,
Jason McStoots, Megan Stapleton, Brenna Wells, Douglas Williams
Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble
Robert Mealy, concertmaster
Cynthia Roberts, violin
Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba
Christel Thielmann, viola da gamba
Beiliang Zhu, viola da gamba
Gonzalo X. Ruiz, oboe & recorder
Kathryn Montoya, oboe & recorder
Avi Stein, harpsichord
Paul O’Dette, Baroque guitar and theorbo
Stephen Stubbs, Baroque guitar and theorbo
Boston Early Music Festival Baroque Dance Ensemble
Carlos Fittante, Olsi Gjeci, Caitlin Klinger, Alexis Silver, Baroque dancers

TICKETS: Tickets are priced at $19, $38, $49, $66 and $125 each and can be purchased at
WWW.BEMF.ORG and 617-661-1812; a $5 discount for students, seniors, and groups
is offered by calling 617-661-1812. Subscription discounts of 10% are available with the
purchase of three or more programs. 2011-2012 Boston Early Music Festival Media Alert Page 2 of 2

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

The Boston Early Music Festival presents the fourth annual installment of its acclaimed Chamber Opera Series, a Marc-Antoine Charpentier double bill. Charpentier, the composer of Actéon in BEMF’s first presentation of chamber operas in 2008, is the creator of both works in this year’s double bill exploring the transcendental power of music. The tragic La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers tells the famous story of Orphée who descends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria. These miniature masterpieces showcase one of the great composers of the French Baroque.

“These two pieces reveal Charpentier’s richness of style,” remarks Stage Director Gilbert Blin. “They also offer a meditation on the ’functions’ of music—from songs of royal praise to personal lament—and how music has the power to transcend reality.”

ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL CHAMBER OPERA SERIES
In 2008, BEMF took the same level of musicianship and scholarship employed in their fully-staged Festival opera productions and directed it towards small-scale works with the introduction of the BEMF

Chamber Opera Series. Each production would feature intimate staging with full costumes and elements of Baroque dance. The inaugural production in November 2008 paired Charpentier’s Actéon with Blow’s Venus and Adonis and was hailed by the Boston Globe as “vivid performances of two seldom-heard works” and “a highly welcome addition to the local concert calendar.” Subsequent productions include Handel’s original 1718 chamber version of Acis and Galatea in 2009 and a 2011 North American Tour and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in 2010. Recordings of Charpentier’s Actéon and Blow’s Venus and Adonis have been released by BEMF in the last year.