English Bach Festival
Events
L'Orfeo
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
(1567 - 1643)
The first event in Britain celebrating the 400th Anniversary
A staged performance at
the Banqueting House Palace of Whitehall
7th February 2007
A rare opportunity to enjoy an evening in this splendid setting with architecture by Inigo Jones and its celebrated Rubens ceiling.
Wine reception at 6.00pm
Dress code - Lounge suit
The English Bach Festival production of L'Orfeo is exciting and innovative, taking the opera back to classical Greece, contemporary with the completion of the Parthenon. The costumes are from drawing on vases, the statues of the Karyatides of the Erechtion at the Acropolis, the Archaeological Museum in Athens and are realized by Peter Rice. The famous Greek jeweller Ilias Lalaounis has created marvellous jewels for Pluto, Euridice and Proserpina: diadems, necklaces, bracelets from Greek antique jewels. The shape of the Lyre of Orpheus, originally made from a turtle shell, has been recreated.
A revival of the English Bach Festival acclaimed performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1994.
Costumes by Peter Rice
"When Lina Lalandi took over the Royal Opera House to stage Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, that was the night to be out!
What we witnessed was a highly personalized performance, intended to delight and edify. The subtle and varied colours of the
costumes were so well chosen that on one occasion, when the lights dimmed, I saw a new painting by Poussin - that's what
costumes and stage settings can be about... my own enjoyment was complete at the ovation when Lina Lalandi threw flowers onto
the stage. Long may she continue to put bouquets our way."
Paul Vining, Early Music News
Past events include the highly acclaimed performance
in Athens Megaron:
Platée
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Opéra – Ballet Bouffon – Versailles 1745
Revival of English Bach Festival Production
Alexandra Trianti Opera House – Athens
16th & 17th October 2006
The English Bach Festival were the pioneers in reviving Rameau Operas at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and in other European Theatres and International Festivals. 1983 was the tercentenary of one of the greatest French baroque composers Jean-Philippe Rameau and France invited the English Bach Festival, to celebrate it at the Opera Royal , Château de Versailles, with his most famous ‘Opera-ballet Bouffon’ Rameau’s Platée. Rameau’s Platée will be performed at the Alexandra Trianti Opera House – Athens on the 17th & 18th October 2006.
- Conductor : Jean-Claude Malgoire
- Choreographer : Christopher Tudor
- Costume Design : Terence Emery after Boquet, Paris circa 1750
- Set Design : Peter Rice after Cochin fils 1749 Versailles
- Lighting Designer: Roger Frith
© 2008 English Bach Festival Trust
