For immediate release
The Medieval Womenís Choir presents Heloise & Abelard, Friday, May 16, 2008, 8:00 pm at Town Hall, 8th & Seneca in Seattle. Tickets $25/20 adults, $20/15 seniors, $15/10 youth at medievalwomenschoir.org, brownpapertickets.com, or by calling 206-264-4822.
Heloise & Abelard opens with excerpts from the passionate letters the lovers exchanged. But what happened to Heloise after her love affair with the renegade philosopher Abelard? In this original production, director Margriet Tindemans and scriptwriter Judith Suther take a fresh look at the long and productive life of this renowned 12th-century French woman, a contemporary of Hildegard of Bingen. The 60-voice choir welcomes soprano Anne Azéma and tenor Eric Mentzel in the title roles, along with instrumentalists Ronnee Fullerton, Bill McJohn, and Peggy Monroe.
The musical part of the program features love songs as they sounded in the streets of Paris at the time of Heloise and Abelard's famous love affair, including some of Abelard's own highly popular lyrics. Music for these songs comes from the Carmina Burana codex and other Parisian manuscripts. The second half of the program includes songs Abelard wrote for Heloise's convent and an original composition by Margriet Tindemans set to the one surviving poem by Heloise herself.
French soprano Anne Azéma (www.anneazema.com) is one of the world's leading interpreters of early vocal music. She is artistic director of the Boston Camerata and enjoys a career spanning four continents. Ms. Azéma can be heard on 30-some recordings.
Tenor Eric Mentzel ( music1.uoregon.edu/About/bios/mentzele.html) is a specialist in historically-informed performance and a frequent collaborator with prominent early music ensembles; he currently teaches voice at the University of Oregon. Judith Suther (script) has translated numerous plays from the French, has written biographies of Raissa Maritain and Kay Sage, and consulted on the 2003 Seattle Repertory Theatre production of "Art" by Yasmina Reza.
Support for this production comes from 4Culture and the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Special Note: Ms. Azéma will present a public Master Class at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N., Seattle, on Saturday, May 10, 2008, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Tickets $5 at the door, beginning at 6:30 pm.
High-resolution photographs suitable for print media available for download at http://www.medievalwomenschoir.org/press.html. An interview with Ms. Suther, with more information about the evolution of the script and the lives of Heloise and Abelard, is posted at http://www.medievalwomenschoir.org/programnotes3.html.
Press contact:Margriet Tindemans, Artistic Director, 206-781-0606 or margriett@comcast.net, or Cathy Palmer, Managing Director, 206-595-2127 or mwccathy@gmail.com
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