NEWS and EVENTS
Performances
Andrew Lawrence-King is currently in Cartagena de las Índias, Colombia, for an intense week of concerts with Jordi Savall.
Baroque Opera
Meanwhile, he is working on a new edition and Russian translation of the earliest surviving Spanish opera, Calderón & Hidalgo's Celos, aun del aire, matan (1660), for performances in Moscow in April. Read more...
Ancient Epic
The Medieval Kalevala, first performed by The Harp Consort as a 'mini-opera' at the Montalban Festival, is coming to its rightful home in Finland, in a new all-Finnish ensemble version with Utopia Choir and star folk-singer Karoliina Kantelinen in March. Read more...
Spanish Dramatic Oratorio
The earliest surviving Spanish Passion was first performed in Valencia in 1706, with five singers representing Mary, Mary Magdalen, St John, an Angel and Luzbel (Lucifer, the Devil!) accompanied by viol and harp. Read more...
Research - Training - Performance
We are also planning a full program of research/training/performance events, for harpists of all kinds, for singers & continuo-players, on Baroque Gesture, and with the International Baroque Opera Studio. More information soon.
Forthcoming Books
Behind the scenes, Andrew is working on three books: The Art of Gestures, a translationof and commentary on Bonifacio's (1616) L'Arte dei Cenni; a new translation and edition of Caccini's (1601) Le Nuove Musiche; and a successor to Dene Barnett's and Joseph Roach's pioneering works on baroque gesture (The Art of Gesture 1987) and the science of acting (The Player's Passion 1985) - The Theatre of Dreams: the Science of Historical Action.
Watch the ideas in development on Andrew's blog here.
SPANISH BAROQUE OPERA
Inspire suave el aura de amor...
(The Aura of Love sweetly inspires)
Пусть мир овевает Aура любви.
We are working on a new edition and Russian translation of the first Spanish opera, Hidalgo/Calderón Celos, aun del aire, matan (Madrid, 1660), to be presented by the Theatre Natalya Satz, Moscow this April.
Meanwhile a high-d "mosquito" baroque guitar is under construction for the typical Spanish quartet of guitars.
As Patrick O'Brien realised, preparing for The Harp Consort's Luz y Norte recording in 1994, that quartet (like every renaissance consort) should be instruments of different sizes. For the first UK and ROI performances of 'Celos' in 2003 with the Sheffield University Drama Studio, Anthony Trippett and I translated Calderón's refrain texts, or mottos, into English. Now Katerina Antonenko and I are grappling with them in Russian!
Aura (condemned to death for an illicit love-affair with Eróstrato) is rescued by Céfalo, whose cynical servant, Clarín tries to seduce Floreta, wife of the gardener, Rústico. Meanwhile the goddess Diana has transformed Rústico into one animal after another; Céfalo has rescued the nymph, Pocris, from a 'tiger' (or is it a lion, a bear, or a wolf?) and hero and nymph seem to be falling in love, in spite of themselves.
And that's just Act I. If you know your Greek myths, then you'll have already guessed that Eróstrato is going to burn down the temple of Diana.
So watch out in Act II, when Clarín tries to give Diana her own gardener in the form of a great hunting-dog as a temple offering, so that our heroes can infiltrate the citadel of anti-love.
In Act III, Diana & the Furies rock it in green, Aura tries to rise above it all, Céfalo becomes a fresh-air fiend, Eróstrato loses it completely, and Pocris is brought down by friendly fire. At least good old Rústico is feeling more like himself.
Anima e Corpo wins the Golden Mask...
Anima e Corpo was nominated in four categories: Best Opera, Best Set Design (Valentina Ostankovich), Best Producer (Georgij Isaakian), Best Conductor
(Andrew Lawrence-King).
And at the recent award ceremony broadcast live on Russian TV’s Kultura channel from the Stanivlasky Theatre, Moscow, it was the outright winner of the highest award, the Jury’s Special Prize for all genres of music-drama (opera, operetta, ballet, musicals etc)....
Jordi Savall & Andrew Lawrence-King have been awarded Australia's prestigious Helpmann award for Best Classical Live Performance, at the award ceremony televised live from Sydney Opera House on 29th July.
More about Helpmann Winners here.
The Helpmann Award the pinnacle entertainment industry event in Australia, recognising distinguished artistic achievement and excellence. The award ceremony will be televised live from the Sydney Opera House on Monday 29th July. More about the HELPMANN here.
EVENTS
27 November - 7 December 2013
BAROQUE OPERA STUDIO: CLASSES, LECTURES, STAGE PRODUCTION
St Petersburg Academy of Early Music, Russia
Andrew Lawrence-King directs Stefano Landi La Morte d'Orfeo (1619)
Soloists, vocal ensemble, strings, cornetts & sackbuts, continuo (harps, theorbos, keyboards etc).
Opera Production with Historical Action.
Classes with ALK, Xavier Diaz Latorre, Klim Zhukhov and guest tutors:
Radical Recitative, Continuo, Rhetorical Italian, Baroque Gesture,
Renaissance Dance, Historical Swordsmanship
More about La Morte d'Orfeo here
Applications welcome from advanced students and young professionals:
Email us about Baroque Opera Studio here
25 August 2013
CONCERT
DUBLIN, Ireland
Celtic Viol
Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King (Irish harp) and Frank McGuire
23 August 2013
CONCERT
SABLÉ, France
Folias Criollas
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (Spanish harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
14-20 August 2013
CLASSES, LECTURES, CONCERTS, CRAICH
Kilkenny, Ireland
Scoil na gCláirseach:
Summer School of the Historical Harp Society of Ireland
The essential rendezvous for historical Gaelic (wire-strung) harp.
CLASSES
Tunes, Modes, Ornaments, Technique, Style, Instruments, History & Myths
Siobhan Armstrong, Ann Heyman, Simon Chadwick, Andrew Lawrence-King
LECTURES
Pentatonic Passions: Andrew Lawrence-King on the emotions of modal music
A Bardic History of Time:
Andrew Lawrence-King on philosophy, pulse & pendulum
CONCERTS
Strip the Willow! 17th-century Ballads & Country Dances
Andrew Lawrence-King presents Gaelic music preserved in 17th-century English sources.
La Cetra d'Or (The Golden Lyre): Cavalieri, Monteverdi, Hidalgo, Dowland
Harps on stage in theatre, masques & early opera
Andrew Lawrence-King (Italian, Spanish and Irish baroque harps)
More information about Scoil na gCláirseach here.
12 August 2013
CONCERT
Paunat, France
Folias Criollas
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (Spanish harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
6 August 2013
CONCERT
Annecy, France
Folias Criollas
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (Spanish harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
26 July 2013
CONCERT
CARDONA
Folias Criollas
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (Spanish harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
17th July 2013
CONCERT
FESTIVAL DE FONTFROIDE
Erasmus: L'Eloge de la Folie
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (renaissance harp, psaltery, Spanish harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
15th July 2013
CONCERT
Festival de Fontfroide
Granada Eterna
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (medieval harp, psaltery, renaissance harp)
directed by Jordi Savall
More about Festival de Fontfroide here
8th July 2013
STAGE SHOW
Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London
Andrew Lawrence-King directs The Guildhall Lutes & Voices
EL ARMONIA DE LOS TRES MUNDOS (The Harmony of Three Worlds)
The first Spanish Oratorio,
Orgambide's Oratorio Sacro al Nacimiento (1704)
Villancicos from Puebla, Mexico (1610)
Polyphony from the Spanish Golden Age
This staged production is a collaboration with the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions.
More about El Armonia & the Spanish Oratorio here
1 July 2013
Concert
Palace of Charles V, Granada, Spain
Granada Eterna
Hesperion XXI with Andrew Lawrence-King (harps, psaltery)
directed by Jordi Savall
28th June 2013 1030
Conference presentation
University of Western Australia, Perth
Redefining Recitative: Action for Arianna
Andrew Lawrence-King on why recitative should not be
'the boring bit in-between the nice tunes'!
27th June 2013 1700
Workshop
University of Western Australia, Perth
Meaning in Melody: Performance and Personation
Andrew Lawrence-King on Morelli's setting of
To be or not to be in the Pepys MS
9th June 2013
CONCERT
Wigmore Hall, London
THE CELTIC VIOL
Scots & Irish traditional music
Jordi Savall (viola da gamba), Andrew Lawrence-King (Irish harp, psaltery)
Frank McGuire (Bodhran)
8th June 2013
CONCERT
Chamber Hall, Conservatoire of Music, Moscow
ALTA CAPELLA MOSCOW directed by Andrew Lawrence-King
Shakespeare's Musicke: Dowland, Gibbons, Johnson, Holborne, Morelli
Prologue - The C - If Music be the Food of Love
The Tragedy - The Forest - Epilogue
4th June 2013
PUBLIC LECTURE
Conservatoire of Music, Moscow
Tis Master's Voice: a 17th-century Shakespeare sound-file?
Andrew Lawrence-King on To be or not to be in the Pepys MS.
21st May 2013
CONCERT
L'Opera, Bordeaux France
FOLIAS CRIOLLAS
Hesperion XXI directed by Jordi Savall,
Andrew Lawrence-King ( Spanish baroque harp)
19th May 2013
CONCERT
Froville Baroque Festival, France
THE CELTIC VIOL: Irish and Scots traditional music
Jordi Savall (viola da gamba), Andrew Lawrence-King (baroque Irish harp, psaltery)
17th May 2013
CONCERT
Feldkirchen Early Music Festival, Austria
THE HARP CONSORT directed by Andrew Lawrence-King
Favola in Musica: Apollo, Bacchus and the birth of opera
Marco Beasley (tenor), Xavier Diaz Latorre (theorbo, guitar),
ALK (Italian baroque triple harp)
The Lyre of Apollo - Apollo and the Sun - Bacchus and the Dark Side
Farewell to Earth - Hell - The Triumph of Love
Cavalieri, Peri, Caccini, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Purcell
