Fanning the flames, putting my foot in my mouth, etc.
See the welcome comment from Tempesta di Mare co-founder Richard Stone on the post below.
Looks like I published without fully looking into the situation...
I still stand by the main point of my last few posts and was basically looking to start a discussion about early music in America and more specifically Philadelphia.
posted by SJZ @ 19:03
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hey there, SJZ, no worries. Also, it's good that you're fanning the flames and getting the conversation rolling about these subjects. I just wanted to set the record straight.
First, I can't blame you for your suspicions. Even our own artists and audience was thinking that Michael had to be a countertenor.
For your information, we have done a number of vocally oriented programs, though none which would qualify as full-blown opera. In our first season we did Handel's Apollo & Dafne in English and semistaged. In our third season we performed a fully staged rendition of Handel's 2-act serenata Clori, Tirsi & Fileno, also in English. In that same season we also collaborated with the Princeton-based chamber choir Fuma Sacra for a program of odes by Purcell and Blow. You can see what we've done in past seasons on the series page of our website, below the current season's listing.
I'm mentioning all of this not to blow our own horn, but rather because I think you'd want you to know that we're working our way towards full-blown baroque opera and oratorio. But we're a young group (currently in season 5) and we haven't yet grown into a position where we can afford to put on full-blow opera.
I would like to encourage you to have a look at our spring offering, Hoshanna!, Hebrew music of the High Baroque, in which we'll give the US premieres of some 18th-century oratorio in Hebrew. Again, it's not quite on the scale of Judas Maccabaeus, but everything in stages. The scale of production you get from a NY Collegium or Boston's Handel & Haydn Society is accompanied by some serious budgetary muscle!
I know that the audience is here in Philadelphia for the sorts of programs you're wishing for. The day when we and others like us can put them on can't come soon enough.
Meanwhile, if you would prefer that I not crowd your blogspace with my own drivel, do feel free to write to me directly. My email link is on our website.
Best regards,
Richard
I can't believe the real richard stone is reading your blog. tell him i love his weiss lute concerti!
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