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The best of Baroque

Dance and comedy highlight Collegium Marianum's early music fest
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By Frank Kuznik
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 11th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
There's skulduggery afoot in Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin, which will be performed to music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.
Summer Festivities of Early Music


When: July 14–Aug. 8
Where: Various venues throughout Prague
Tickets: 150–400 Kč, available through Ticketpro, at the Collegium Marianum box office (Melantrichova 19, Prague 1–Old Town) and at the venues
For a complete schedule, check www.collegiummarianum.cz

Conventional wisdom holds that everyone who can get out of town at this time of year does. But, for those willing to stay in Prague, or just venture into the city occasionally, the reward is one of the tastiest classical music series of not just the summer, but the entire year.
The early music devotees at Collegium Marianum have once again recruited some of the Continent’s finest Baroque musicians, dancers and theatrical performers for musical soirees set in atmospheric venues throughout the city. In recent years the series has diversified from pure music to performance pieces, and that trend continues this season with the Summer Festivities of Early Music divided into three distinct sections: music, music and dance, and French music and theater.
The heart of the theater section will be performed by candlelight at Divadlo ABC. Les Fables de La Fontaine (July 20) features French Baroque specialist Jean-Denis Monory giving a solo performance (in French) of the poetry of Jean de La Fontaine, set to the music of Francois Couperin. Both the composer and the poet were stars of the 17th-century, and La Fontaine’s Fables, humorous and thinly veiled satires of the court of Louis XIV, were best-sellers. They’re brought to life with a flourish by Monory, a noted specialist in Baroque declamation and gesture.
Les Fourberies de Scapin (Aug. 8) was a hit during the regular Collegium Marianum season, and is distinctive in its use of improvisation. With simple props and colorful costumes, three French actors recreate scenes from Moliere’s play, with a trio of Collegium Marianum musicians providing musical accompaniment by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The comedy is broad enough so that, with a bit of guidance from the program, anyone can enjoy the humor.
The third performance at ABC (July 23) is a Renaissance dance production taking its inspiration from the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting Lady with an Ermine. The Polish dance specialists Cracovia Danza and period music ensemble Ars Cantus recreate the grandeur of the 15th-century court of Duke Lodovico Il Moro in Milan, and recount the story of his mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, the subject of da Vinci’s painting. Da Vinci himself designed costumes for the court’s elaborate dance productions, which attracted some of the best dancers in Europe.
The other big dance production, titled Nobility and Passion (Aug. 5 and 6), features Collegium Marianum musicians and dancers in a brief history of the Baroque dance form known as La Folia, a term derived from a Portuguese word meaning “crazy” or “deprived of one’s senses.” The dances may not seem very crazy by today’s standards, but they are authentic and quite charming, and the music is by 15th-and 16th-century composers such as Lully and Vivaldi.
Musically, this is a banner year for the festival, with some outstanding soloists performing in picturesque settings. At Troja Chateau, French countertenor Gerard Lesne performs 17th-century French and Italian works with harpsichord accompaniment (July 17). Violin virtuoso Ricardo Minasi performs a program of technically demanding late Baroque and early classical pieces at Břevnov Monastery (July 15). The German ensemble Les Cornets Noirs offers an entertaining study in the cornett being one of the most popular instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque periods at St. Gallus Church in Old Town (July 26). And noted French cellist Bruno Cocset opens the festival at the Congress Hall of the Czech National Bank (July 14), leading his Les Basses Réunies ensemble in a program showcasing cello sonatas by French composers along with Vivaldi and J.S. Bach (July 14).
There’s more — too much to list here. Ultimately, what’s best about the festival is that it’s accessible to everyone, whether you’re an early music aficionado or wouldn’t know the difference between a theorbo and a viola da gamba. This series is like Christmas in July for devotees, with great attention and care given to bringing expert performers to Prague and matching them with sophisticated programs in appropriate settings. But you could just as easily walk in off the street without a shred of knowledge or appreciation beyond Mozart and Bach, and absorb a great deal about period instruments and Baroque musical forms in the course of enjoying a highly entertaining evening.
The more popular concerts sell out, so buy your tickets in advance or get to the performance early.
     

Frank Kuznik can be reached at fkuznik@praguepost.com


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