The Somerville Museum will open its 23rd season of Early Music Afternoons on Sunday, November 6 , with a performance by Duo Maresienne (Carol Lewis, pardessus de viole and bass viol; Olav Chris Henriksen, theorbo and Baroque guitar), entitled La Mascarade: Character Music of the French Baroque. The concert will take place at 3 pm at the Somerville Museum, Central Street at Westwood Road, Somerville, MA. Admission is $17 general admission, $12 students, seniors and Museum members. Ample street parking is available. An informal reception at the Museum will follow the concert. For further information and reservations, or for a series brochure, call (617) 666-9810.
Louis XIV of France, known as the “Sun King”, loved court dance and extravagantly-staged entertainments, and he inspired French composers to create many musical pieces based on characters from masked ballets and Italian Commedia dell’arte. This kind of musical fascination with portrayal of characters of all kinds lasted throughout the 18th century, as you will hear in Duo Maresienne’s program of sonatas, chaconnes and other gems by Louis de Caix d’Hervelois, Marin Marais, Robert de Visée and others. Featured will be Caix d’Hervelois’ L’italienne, Marais’ L’Arabesque, de Visée’s La Mascarade and Charles Dollé’s La Victoire, as well as an imitation of a scena (cantata in operatic style) for guitar and pardessus de viole by Pierre Jean Porro.
Carol Lewis and Olav Chris Henriksen are two of America’s leading early musicians, whose unique repertoire and unusual range has led them to perform frequently in recitals individually and together, as well as with internationally acclaimed ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Camerata, Capriccio Stravagante, Waverly Consort, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and Hespèrion. Critics have praised Duo Maresienne’s performances, noting their “dazzling technical virtuosity and passionate playing of gut-gripping intensity”.
