presents the first of New Chamber Opera Series: two one-act operas

at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall on November 29, 2008, 8 pm

Venus and Adonis, by John Blow (1649-1710)

Actéon, by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)

Pre-concert talk at 7 pm with the opera directors, Keller Room at Jordan Hall

The performances will be led by BEMF’s Artistic Co-Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Stage Director Gilbert Blin, and concertmaster Robert Mealy, with costumes by Anna Watkins and choreography by Lucy Graham. Appearing in leading roles will be Amanda Forsythe as Venus, Tyler Duncan as Adonis, and Aaron Sheehan as Actéon. The cast will also feature: local soloists Michael Barrett, Lydia Brotherton, Pamela Dellal, Jason McStoots, Teresa Wakim, Brenna Wells, and Douglas Williams; Canadians Olivier Laquerre, Mireille Lebel, and Julien Patenaude; four Baroque dancers; and five children from the BEMF Youth Ensemble, led by Rebecca Kenneally.

While we hear of retrenchment and caution in other quarters, here is some excellent news from the Boston Early Music Festival. This Saturday BEMF will present the first performance of its chamber opera series. Since its standard-setting performances of full-scale operas only occur every other year, Paul O’Dette, musical co-director with Stephen Stubbs, says that BEMF wanted to have an opera presence in Boston during the off years, when it was not presenting its biennial Festival.  “But rather than doing this same kind of major production, we wanted to further explore the repertoire and present opera lovers with a smaller-scale, more intimate work, but one that would deliver the same level of sophistication and elegance, the tragedy, pathos, humor, romance, and color of a major opera but in a shorter timeframe.”

O’Dette noted that during his and others’ extensive research into Baroque opera over the years for BEMF, they have found such enormous variety in scope and scale – there are literally thousands of operas, from small to large-scale, written between 1600 and 1750 – that Baroque opera presented today barely scratches the surface. “Today,” he says, “only a handful of well-known Baroque works are presented and then repeated over and over again, suggesting that the repertoire was limited.  In fact, it’s barely been touched.” Part of BEMF’s focus on opera is to explore the rich reservoir of works that have never been presented in this country in modern times and to expand the public’s familiarity with it...although as O’Dette admits, the pair of operas chosen to inaugurate BEMF’s new chamber opera series is relatively well-known.

I can do no better than to quote Mr. O'Dette's public statement about the series:

Welcome to the first Boston Early Music Festival chamber opera production! In our ongoing exploration of the riches of Baroque opera, we have been constantly reminded of the enormous variety of scope and complexity represented in the sources, from elaborate, full-scale spectacle operas designed for well-equipped theaters to charming small-scale works performed in intimate spaces for select audiences.

While magnificent festive operas are the hallmark of our biennial festival, we have long wished to present some delightful chamber entertainments as well, including one-act operas, serenatas, madrigal comedies, and pastorals. The richness of these works prompts us to embrace this neglected but beautiful corner of the opera repertory and expand our opera offerings into non-Festival years, creating a more regular presence for BEMF operas in Boston. Due to the smaller scale of chamber operas, we plan on making this new series an annual event. 

We could not help ourselves this first time around, and chose two rather elaborate chamber works, both of which include chorus and dance. Venus and Adonis and Actéon could thus be described as miniature spectacle operas. They express the same pathos, humor, romance, and color of full-scale operas, but with smaller forces and shorter libretti. In the future we will present a variety of chamber operas in different languages and styles, representing a cornucopia of Baroque musical theater. We hope you will enjoy experiencing tonight’s productions as much as we have enjoyed putting them together.

— Paul O’Dette

I imagine we'll all be looking forward to the annual chamber opera productions with the same eagerness as the full operas.