Here is a video for one of the artists, a flutist, that I recently have started working for (still my plans to open my agency are put on hold because of the prefecture). His name is Hervé Hotier and is the professor of flute at the Clermont-Ferrand Conservatory.
As his impersario, as a contact from Canada called me, I am currently organizing an American tour for next june. He is interested in not only playing flute with his guitarist, but learning about the USA and discovering it's beauty. Basically,I am interested in networking with organizers and producers from cities with a good music reputation, if any of you, adventurers have an idea, don't hesitate to pass it along.
Enjoy the video, please comment if you like his music and would appreciate to hear more!
Last week was my final project for my Masters, the flute festival for those of you who didn't know. It wasn't much of the festival I wanted to do, because of some last minute situations, but the turn-out was great as was the flutist, Heidi Pintner Alvarez.
Here is a recap for those who missed out the concerts:
27 may : Concert Baroque at the Saint Rita Church located in the 15th arrondissement, a small church with very interesting decorations and Saint Rita in real human form in a display case in the back of the church. The acoustics were great and the Bach and Telemann sonatas sounded amazing. Even though, there was a small crowd of 20 people, the music allowed everyone to share an intimate moment together whether it was a recollection of the melodies or a lesson on baroque style.
28 May : Contemporary Flute Concert at 38 Riv located in the 4th arrondissement. A small concert hall located in a cave or basement of a building, a nice quiet and warm environment. The only negative comment both the flutist and I had was they decided to clean right before the concert and the smell of the cleaning supplies and the cave didn't mix well. There was a little larger crowd than the previous night, mostly friends and family of mine. This concert included a premiere of Michael Kallstrom's "The Falling Cinders of Time, Michael is the Professor of Composition at WKU, as well.
Hope you can join us for our next festival edition, details coming soon!
This week at Opéra Comique, Lully's tragic opera will be playing Cadmus and Hermoine till the 5th of november. It is an opera in 5 acts, the music is played by Le Poème Harmonique, they have performed this opera once before at the Opéra Comique, most of the opera can be found on youtube as the performance was filmed.
Below is a snippet of the opera for this year, with a brief introduction in French by Benjamin Lazar, the producer.
A little history about the opera:
The French-language libretto is by Philippe Quinault, after Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It was first performed on April 27, 1673, at the Paris Jeu de Béquet.
The prologue, in praise of King Louis XIV, represents him as Apollo slaying the Python of Delphi. The opera itself concerns the love story of Cadmus, legendary founder and king of Thebes, Greece, and Hermione (Harmonia), daughter of Venus and Mars. Other characters include Pallas Athene, Cupid, Juno, and Jupiter.
With Cadmus et Hermione, Lully invented the form of the tragédie en musique (also known as tragédie lyrique). From contemporary Venetian opera, Lully incorporated elements of comedy among the servants, elements which he would later avoid, as would subsequent reformers in Italian opera. A contemporary transcription of the overture by Jean-Henri d’Anglebert remains a possible part of the harpsichord repertoire.
