A new production of ‘Poppea' struggles to get out of its own way
There's some fine singing to be found in the new production of Claudio Monteverdi's 'Poppea' from IN Series. Let's start there.
Composed in 1642, 'L'incoronazione di Poppea' was Monteverdi's final opera and remains his most popular, thanks in large part to its beautifully buoyant score, but also for its compelling cast of characters, whose dramatic depth and tragicomic range was relatively innovative for 17th-century Baroque opera.
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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Boston Globe
A quick guide to this year's Boston Early Music Festival
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up There are at least three offerings packed into most days of the festival. Sometimes there are more. It's a maybe-overwhelming array of options, so if you don't know where to start, here are some picks for events I wouldn't want to miss. Advertisement OPERATIC OFFERINGS The elaborate centerpiece opera, which will be performed four times during the week (June 8-June 15), is an institution of the festival. Usually, musical directors Paul O'Dette and Stephen Stubbs and stage director Gilbert Blin put up a deep cut from the Baroque repertoire that even seasoned opera-goers may never have heard of, let alone seen performed. No effort is spared in the production, which features a full baroque orchestra in the pit, sumptuous sets and costumes, and a dance company led by Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière in addition to the cast of singers, which features Hungarian soprano and BEMF veteran Emőke Baráth in the title role this year. Advertisement It's also a 3-hour time commitment, so if that's more than you want to bite off, consider the chamber opera double bill of Telemann's short and snappy comedy 'Pimpinone' and dramatic cantata 'Ino,' going up at Jordan Hall on June 14 with more performances in Great Barrington later in June. THE REGULARS ARE COMING! This year's biennial marks the 23rd for the festival, and it has nourished a network of world-class performers and ensembles that have become regular visitors. Violinist Robert Mealy, head of Yale University's respected early music program, leads the festival's in-house orchestra, which is primarily occupied in the pit for the opera, but it takes center stage with its own program of water-inspired works by Handel and Telemann (June 12). The 'Octavia' singers are booked and busy as well on their off nights - tenor Aaron Sheehan joins Paul O'Dette for a wine-soaked recital program (June 9), soprano Sherezade Panthaki teams up with Austria-based Ensemble Castor (June 10), and nearly the whole gang piles on stage for Saturday evening's post-chamber-opera extravaganza. (June 14) BEMF presents the Tallis Scholars in a Yuletide concert most years, but they're on hand during this summer festival for two programs – one with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble (June 9) and a Sistine Chapel-inspired program on their own (June 11). And I'm personally biased because I have a friend in period string ensemble ACRONYM, but I never pass up a chance to see them – and going by the fact that this is the group's fourth consecutive festival, neither do the BEMF organizers. Advertisement RARER SIGHTS & SOUNDS Boston Camerata is hardly an unfamiliar name around town, but for BEMF, the ensemble is rolling out the local debut of 'A Gallery of Kings,' which premiered to acclaim at France's Reims Cathedral several years ago. Stephen Stubbs is also known around these parts for being one of BEMF's creative head honchos, but he also artistic directs the Seattle-based Pacific MusicWorks, which makes its BEMF debut in the late-night slot on June 10 with the intriguingly titled 'Murder, Mayhem, Melancholy, and Madness,' featuring soprano Danielle Reuter-Harrah. The relentlessly creative Norwegian ensemble Trio Mediaeval is returning to the festival after several years away, with an intriguing lineup of chant by Hildegard von Bingen and elaborate songs by English composer Leonel Power; their arrangements feature a miniature organ, hurdy-gurdy, and Hardanger fiddle – a Norwegian violin variant known for its haunting, resonant sound (June 11). Montreal-based Constantinople, helmed by Kiya Tabassian on the setar (three-stringed Persian lute), is behind the Bach and Khayyam program; soprano Hana Blažíková lends her voice to the group, which incorporates classical Middle Eastern instruments alongside the Baroque European. BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL June 8-15. Various venues. A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
Buzz Feed
26-05-2025
- Buzz Feed
Just 38 Sublime Finds From Amazon
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Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Artist Caravaggio's faith shines in new Rome exhibit and at churches run by Pope Leo XIV's order
ROME (AP) — The Roman basilica of the Augustinians — Pope Leo XIV's religious order — preserves an iconic painting of the Virgin Mary by Caravaggio, the blockbuster artist who revolutionized the use of light and darkness in Western art. A new exhibit of works by the Baroque painter is now on view in Rome until July 6, allowing for an updated look at his connection with spirituality. From the Pilgrims' Madonna at the Basilica of St. Augustine to the Martyrdom of St. Ursula that closes the 'Caravaggio 2025' exhibit, art historians and clergy are highlighting the connections between religious belief and Caravaggio's 'chiaroscuro." 'It's the light that directs us toward what for him are the key points of the story,' exhibit curator Francesca Cappelletti said about the artist's spotlight on the main characters that emerge from encroaching darkness. 'Our life experience makes sense only if invested by a spiritual light.' The Caravaggio Madonna at the Augustinians' Basilica In the Augustinian Madonna, dating from the early 1600s, what hits the viewer at eye level are the dirty soles of a ragged pilgrim couple's feet as they kneel by the apparition of the Virgin Mary. She leans casually against a door frame as she holds a toddler-size Jesus. It's a far cry from the usual otherworldly, genteel depictions of most Madonnas. That makes it even more poignant within Augustinian spirituality, because it illustrates the encounter between man's nature and God's mercy, said the Rev. Pasquale Cormio, the basilica's rector. 'We see God's wish to show himself to humankind as someone who walks alongside the poor,' Cormio said. 'It's certain that this Virgin Mary is close to a perhaps tired, perhaps wounded, certainly dirty humanity that is burdened by daily life.' The name of the Pilgrims' Madonna references not only the two figures before Mary, but also the fact that on this spot, the Augustinians have welcomed pilgrims en route to the nearby Vatican since the end of the 13th century. It was to commemorate a pilgrimage to Loreto — a shrine in central Italy where tradition says Mary's house was miraculously airlifted — that the painting's well-connected patrons commissioned it, said Alessandro Zuccari. A member of Italy's prestigious Accademia dei Lincei, he wrote the chapter on spirituality in the Caravaggio exhibit catalog. The spirituality of a rebel artist In fact, despite his adventurous life and bluntly realistic art, Caravaggio worked for prestigious, pious patrons, including a cardinal, and is documented to have participated in Catholic rites including Eucharistic adoration, Zuccari added. That hardly fits the reputation for a transgressive 'accursed artist' that Caravaggio — whose full name was Michelangelo Merisi — accrued over the centuries. 'We don't know what Caravaggio thought, because he left no writings,' Zuccari said. 'I'm convinced, as are other experts, that Caravaggio has his own spirituality.' Out of about 70 paintings by Caravaggio, more than 50 represent saints or Biblical scenes — even those destined for private collections, not churches, he added. Religious themes across Caravaggio's work at new exhibit Some of the best-known are among the two dozen paintings on view at Palazzo Barberini, covering the time from Caravaggio's arrival in Rome around 1595 to his death in 1610. They include works on loan from Dublin to Kansas City. There's Caravaggio's first religious painting, St. Francis of Assisi, who's depicted in an angel's arms while one of his early companions, Brother Leo, is barely visible in the surrounding darkness. It's an early example of those 'oscuri gagliardi' — a bold darkness, as a 17th century art critic quoted in an exhibit panel put it. 'Gagliardo' is a slang word Romans still use today to mean everything from panini to people with a special flair and power. Two other religious paintings with the same innovative use of light and darkness take a gruesome turn. In Judith Beheading Holofernes, the Jewish hero frowns in seeming disgust at the blood spurting from his neck. In David with the Head of Goliath, the dripping severed head is a self-portrait. In what's probably the artist's last painting before dying at age 39, and the last exhibited in the new show, Caravaggio also portrayed himself. He's the man peeking, stunned and openmouthed, from the darkness at the soldier who's just shot an arrow into St. Ursula's chest. More of Caravaggio's religious paintings are in chapels downtown Rome. The Conversion of Saul, an early version of which is in the exhibit, and the Crucifixion of Peter are in Santa Maria del Popolo, also an Augustinian community. Three paintings about St. Matthew are in San Luigi dei Francesi church. Two blocks away, back at St. Augustine's, pilgrims and tourists continue to flock to see Caravaggio and other artwork. For Cormio, welcoming them is a chance to encourage Augustinian spirituality. 'Augustine also left us this teaching — that through the beauty of creation and the beauty of human works, too, we can capture something of the beauty of God,' he said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
