Last night I did my part to become more cultured and attended the final concert of Lausanne’s 12th annual Bach Festival. It was held at L’Eglise St-Francois and, contrary to the festival’s name, actually involved an Oratorio by Handel called La Resurrezione (while the festival focuses on Bach, it apparently also incorporates some of the works of his contemporaries).
The venue itself has an interesting history and dates back to the 13th century. It initially served as part of a Franciscan monastery before becoming a protestant church following the reformation. While at times the performance made you forget that you were actually in a church, there turned out to be one ongoing reminder – the cold, hard wooden pews.
Though I couldn’t understand the Italian lyrics, I enjoyed the music and thought that the singers were very talented. Going into the show I had no real clue what to expect – my knowledge of classical music broadly and Handel’s work specifically is virtually nonexistent. Fortunately my ignorance didn’t seem to hinder my appreciation of the performance.
After the show I did a search on La Resurrezione and came upon a…how should I put it…interesting detail surrounding he oratorio’s history. For the opening performance (in ~1705), the role of Mary Magdalene was played by a female and this caused a great deal of commotion as there was a papal mandate against female performers at the time. In order to placate the church, the role was subsequently played by a “castrato”. Any yes, the term means what you think it does.
Though I couldn’t understand the Italian lyrics, I enjoyed the music and thought that the singers were very talented. Going into the show I had no real clue what to expect – my knowledge of classical music broadly and Handel’s work specifically is virtually nonexistent. Fortunately my ignorance didn’t seem to hinder my appreciation of the performance.
After the show I did a search on La Resurrezione and came upon a…how should I put it…interesting detail surrounding he oratorio’s history. For the opening performance (in ~1705), the role of Mary Magdalene was played by a female and this caused a great deal of commotion as there was a papal mandate against female performers at the time. In order to placate the church, the role was subsequently played by a “castrato”. Any yes, the term means what you think it does.
No comments:
Post a Comment