Brooklyn 30 Lafayette Avenue PressDepartment Academy Brooklyn NY 11217 - 1486 Elena Park of Telephone:718.636.4111 SusanYung Music Fax: 718.857.2021 Amy Hughes 718636.4129 [email protected] News Release Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Presents Les Arts Florissants in Concert Performances of Handel's Theodora William Christie leads the renowned early music ensemble in two performances of Handel's compelling oratorio
Les Arts Florissants Musical Director, William Christie Music by George Frideric Handel
Choir Preparation, Frarn;ois Bazola Orchestra and choir of Les Arts Florissants In English with titles by Francis Rizzo
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House 2 performances : May 6 at 7:30pm; May 7 at 3pm tickets: $20, 40, 55
Brookl yn, March 29, 2000 (revise d April 18}--William Christie returns to BAM with Les Arts Florissants, the internationally renowned Baroque vocal and instrumental ense mble, conducting two concert performances of Handel's Theodora . Theodora, which tells the tale of a Christian martyr persecuted by the Romans in the early fourth century A.D., was considered by the composer to be "far beyond" his more famous Christian oratorio, The Messiah. Handel prized its intimacy and emotional urgency . England's Daily Telegraph said of the 1996 highly -acclaimed Glyndebourne performance of Theodora , which Christie conducted , "As one profoundly beautiful aria followed another, the audience sat as if stunned." Theodora , the eighth event of BAM ' s 2000 Spring Season , will be presented at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue) for two performances , May 6 at 7:30pm and May 7 at 3pm.
BAM ' s 2000 Spring Season features fourteen productions of dance, theater, music, and opera from 0 February 8 to June 11, as well as complementary film, humanities, and live music events. BAM's 2000 Spring Season is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc . For tickets, call BAM Ticket 0 Services at 718 .636.4100, Ticketmaster at 212.307.4100, or visit BAM ' s website at www.bam.org. 0 N more ... Spring Season Theodora 2
About Theodora
Theodora, Handel's penultimate oratorio (Jeptha followed it), takes place in the Roman Empire's Antioch during 304 AD. Valens, the Roman prefect of Antioch, proclaims a "feast and solemn sacrifice to Jove" in honor of the emperor's birthday; all who refuse to participate will be punished. Theodora, a young headstrong Christian virgin from a good family, declines and is sent into prostitution in the Temple of Venus. She begs for death instead, and despite the best efforts of Didymus, a Roman guard who loves her and is also a Christian, the story ends in tragedy for the young couple. Theodora poignantly examines the themes of fate, love, and religious integrity. In this concert staging, the music's intrinsic spirituality takes center stage.
The piece, written by Handel in approximately one month, was poorly received by critics and audiences at its 1750 premiere and received very few performances over the ensuing century (in part because a complete score did not exist). Friedrich Chrysander's 1860 edition of Theodora encouraged more frequent performances, but it has never gained the popularity of the composer's more famous Christian oratorio, The Messiah. An acclaimed 1996 production with an all-star American cast, directed by Peter Sellars and conducted by William Christie, has led to a renewed interest in this glorious music .
The cast includes soprano Sophie Daneman in the title role of Theodora, bass Nathan Berg in the role of Valens, tenor Richard Croft as Septimius, counter-tenor Daniel Taylor as Dydimus, and soprano Juliette Galstian as Irene.
About the artists
William Christie (born 1944 in Buffalo, New York) studied piano, harpsichord, and organ and settled in France in 1971 after graduating from Harvard and Yale. Since founding Les Arts Florissants in 1979, he has contributed immensely to the burgeoning interest in music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and has won citations for musical excellence. He has collaborated with reno'Yned stage directors and choreographers on numerous productions, and regularly guest conducts orchestras and lectures on early music. He was the first American to become a professor at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris (1982), was awarded the French Legion d'Honneur in 1993, and is now a French citizen.
Les Arts Florissants, founded by Christie in Paris two decades ago, takes its name from a three-century old work by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Les Arts Florissants is internationally renowned for its crystalline renditions and reconstructions of operas and scores by largely French, Italian, and English 17th and 18th Century Baroque composers, such as Lully, Monteverdi, and Purcell. Since 1989, Christie and Les Arts Florissants have performed four fully-staged operas and six concerts at BAM, including Atys (1989 and 1992), Medee ( 1994 ), Orlando ( 1996), and Hippolyte et Aricie ( 1997), as well as concerts in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999. Theodora marks the troupe ' s twelfth BAM engagement, an impressive span from 1989's staging of Atys through last season's 20th anniversary concert of Purcell odes .
Credits
Les Arts Florissants ' principal sponsor is Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Leadership support is provided by The Florence Gould Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.; and The Norman & Rosita Winston Foundation, Inc . Corporate sponsorship is provided by Credit Lyonnais, with major support by E. Nakamichi Foundation; Tony & Lawrie Dean; and The American Friends of Les Arts Florissants. Les Arts Florissants is supported by Ministere de la Culture, Ville de Caen, and Conseil regional de Basse-Normandie.
more ... Theodora 3 Generalinformation
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House , BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafe, and Shakespeare & Co . BAMshop are located in the main building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (Lafaye tte and Ashland) in the Fort Greene sectio n of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater (formerly the Majestic Theater) is located at 651 Fulton Street in Fort Greene , Brooklyn. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn's only movie house dedicated to first -run indepe ndent and foreign film and repertory programming. Award-winning Tentation Catering provide s food and beverages at BAMcaf e, which features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during the Spring Season. A package including dinner in BAMcafe and a movie ticket to BAM Rose Cinemas is available for only $25 (at the box office only).
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, D, Q to Atlantic Avenue B, M, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street ; C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Lon g Island Railroad to Flatbush A venue BAMbus: Departs from Whitney Museum at Philip Morri s, 120 Park Avenue at 42 nd Street, one hour prior to most performances . Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM.
For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit www.bam .org. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster at 212.307.4100.
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