The Portrait Players, Claire (soprano), Kristiina (theorbo and lute) and Miriam (cello and viol da gamba) are all lovers of early music; Claire and Miriam graduates of the Royal Academy, Kristina of the Guildhall School. They met in 2022 and as a result of their involvement in Claire‘s Handel’s Europe programme, in early 2023 they decided to form The Portrait Players, a trio whose programmes would be inspired by historical characters.
Since then they have been supported by a number of emerging ensemble programmes and have worked with several luminaries of the early music world such as Laurence Cummings and Emma Kirkby: indeed it was Emma who recommended them to us. They have performed in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, at Brighton Early Music Festival, St. Pancras Clock Tower and University College Oxford, as well as collaborating with Opera Prelude in London and Henley.
Les Femme Illustres – The Female Genius
This programme showcases brilliant and bold 17th century female creatives – amongst whom were the Paris ‘Salonnières’ such as the Marquise de Rambouillet and Madeleine de Scudéry. These ladies would hold gatherings in their houses for which they would select their guests and decide the subjects to be discussed – these could be social, literary, or political. The salons also served as an informal education for women, where they were able to exchange ideas, receive and give criticism, read their own works and hear the works and ideas of other intellectuals. Many of these works were then set to music by leading composers of the time.
(For a fascinating history of the ‘salon’ see this very interesting Wikipedia entry.)
Mirroring the Salonnières of Paris were the pioneering singer-actresses in London who had only recently been permitted to perform in public. Ladies such as Mrs Letitia Cross whose career (including a short period when she was Peter the Great’s mistress while he visited London) stretched from the 1690s till her death in 1737. Mrs Cross appeared in satires, dramas and operas, inspiring some of Henry Purcell’s most popular theatre songs and appearing in his unfinished opera The Indian Queen.
In their programme The Portrait Players will introduce us to many of these women and the songs they inspired – including:
Honoré d’Ambruis – Le doux silence de nos bois
Sébastien Le Camus – Délices des étés
Michel Lambert – Laissez-moi soupirer
Henry Purcell – O let me weep
Henry Purcell – From rosy bowers
The concert will, of course, be followed by a supper which might well have been served at one of those literary salons!
To book for 24th September – suggested donations £30 per person – go here.
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets
Nothing to do with music at all but…
If you happen to be anywhere near the Barbican with an hour to spare before the end of the month, do go and spend it at the exhibition which runs at the Barbican Gallery until September 1st: Francis Alÿs: Ricochets.
Alÿsis is a Belgian artist photographer who has spent much of the last 40 years travelling the world filming children at play. From Afghanistan to Hong Kong, from Mosul to Ukraine, from Mexico to London, from Havana to Copehagen. The games the children play require no props beyond a few stones, sweet wrappers, a colony of snails or an old tyre – but often require considerable skill and great concentration. Some games are centuries old, some recent inventions but all are adult free and can (and do) get joyfully played in the most desolate of locations.
The exhibition consists of 10 foot high screens showing around 20 of these films – with accompanying soundtrack so do not go expecting a peaceful immersive experience. Young teens in Havana career round the streets on ‘go-carts’ cobbled together from bits of discarded junk; boys in Mosul play a full on game of football in a bomb crater with an imaginary ball; two girls play knuckle bones with stones in Nepal; boys in Afghanistan race old tyres down a broken road, driving them with sticks; three girls show off their skipping skills in Hong Kong.
What is so absolutely rivetting – beyond the total focus of the children involved – is that none of the games require anything but imagination, ingenuity and concentration. Not a device to be seen….
If you can get to see the exhibition live, do – but if you can’t, all of the films, plus some more, can be found on line here. There is also an interesting article on Alÿsis and the exhibition in the Guardian.
The Summer Jazz party
I’m delighted to report that our jazz summer party last Sunday was, thanks to both the weather and to Sol and his group, a great success – more to come in the next post.
For other future happenings in at Hampstead Lane and elsewhere – see our Upcoming Events page.
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