Boston Early Music Festival 2009
The biennial festival took place at venues around the city June 6-21
Music Review
Renaissance music with lasting joy by the BEMF
The Boston Early Music Festival presented music from both ends of the vast terrain it covers. First up was Stile Antico, left, a British vocal ensemble. In contrast, remarkable Italian ensemble Micrologus later picked up the baton.
Music Review
Capturing Beethoven's contrasts
Is Beethoven early music? On paper, an all-Beethoven concert at the festival, as was presented by cellist Pieter Wispelwey, left, and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, carries the same cognitive dissonance as hearing one's prom theme turn up on an oldies station. In practice, Beethoven's audacious talent was rendered a palpable presence.
Music Review
Soloists are instrumental in BEMF Ensemble program
A host of Boston Early Music Festival stalwarts took to Jordan Hall in the form of the BEMF Chamber Ensemble. Led by festival codirector Paul O'Dette, left, and violinist Robert Mealy, the group offered a status report on the ever-advancing level of period-instrument prowess.
Music Review
Italian court music, tender and racy
The Boston Early Music Festival presented a program from Italian ensemble Micrologus, which was titled "Amours, Amours: Landscapes of Love, Lost and Found" and was devoted to 15th-century music from the Italian courts.
Music Review
Out of Renaissance Croatia, a haunting story
"Judith," performed by Katarina Livljanic with her Dialogos ensemble as part of the Boston Early Music Festival, is a mesmerizing and at times hauntingly beautiful work.
Opera review
Monteverdi's Romans, speaking to the present
The biennial Boston Early Music Festival has as its centerpiece a delightful new production of Monteverdi's late masterpiece "L'incoronazione di Poppea."
Video
1. BEMF's "Evening of Chamber Opera," featuring Amanda Forsythe as Venus and Mireille Lebel as Cupid. Choreography by Lucy Graham.
2. Dress rehearsal footage from BEMF's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion.
Courtesy of BEMF/Video by Kathy Wittman.