1999 Boston Early Music Festival

Abstract

The tenth Boston Early Music Festival, 'Music of the Mediterranean' (8-13 June) offered so many attractions, truly an embarrassment of riches, that a reviewer could barely keep up with just the concerts and principal events sponsored by the festival itself. To cram such a fortnight's worth of attractions into just six days was a miracle of organization, for all went remarkably smoothly. The centrepiece was another handsomely staged production of an important Baroque opera, five showings of Francesco Cavalli's Ercole amante, premiered in Paris in 1660. (The opera was subsequently presented at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony's beautiful summer home, and also at the Utrecht Festival.) The performances of the opera were complemented by two substantial symposia, one dealing with research and production issues, the other with its importance in the evolution of opera in France. A varied baker's dozen of concerts of music from the Mediterranean lands presented largely unfamiliar fare, much of which came as revelatory indeed. Ten masterclasses by prominent early music performers who participated in the opera and concert performances were also open to festival attendees. A pair of symposia, whimsically entitled 'Brewing your own' and 'The wheat from the chaff, with the participation of leading artists, recording engineers and producers, were dedicated to the making and marketing of compact discs of high quality. The CD has become the calling card and advertisement of early music performers, now that one can be relatively easily and cheaply produced. A symposium on musical instrument collections brought together makers, restorers, curators and conservators for a most enlightening couple of hours. One wished that the topics and issues discussed might have been granted an entire day. Why this symposium should have been listed under 'Trade topics' is puzzling; even more so its mate under this rubric, 'Early music and healing', a discussion of the special therapeutic value claimed for this broad category of repertory in particular. A major component of the Boston Festival is the exhibition, where this year 116 makers of instruments and accessories, recording companies, retailers, early music service organizations, publishers and music dealers displayed their wares and offered their services. As before, 27 of these exhibitors, including all but a few keyboard instrument makers and restorers, were installed in individual conference rooms at the Park Plaza Hotel. The remainder were