Marais And The Operatic Muse

For their upcoming August programme, Marais And The Operatic Muse. the Marais Project turns its attention to Marin Marais’ long-neglected operas which were much acclaimed at the Court of Louis XIV.  On the menu will be excerpts from Marais’ best known opera, Sémélé and a cantata by another favourite composer, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair.  Regular Marais Project soprano and French music specialist, Belinda Montgomery, will be joined by up and coming baritone Alexander Knight for an afternoon of the kind of musical rarities The Marais Project is renowned for. They also welcome recorder player Mikaela Oberg on her debut performance with The Marais Project.

Viola da gambist and founder and artistic director of The Maris Project, Jennifer Eriksson is a specialist in French music. She has developed and presented no less than four “child friendly” operas for the Musica Viva in Schools program over the past 25 years.  She has drawn on this expertise to curate this programme Marais And The Operatic Muse. Jennifer Eriksson has a knack for combining the obscure with the mainstream to the delight of audiences across the country.  She is just as happy playing a folk song from her grandfather’s home country of Sweden as she is presenting thrilling music from the baroque era or new works written for her that are literally “hot off the press”. In all she does there is a passion to communicate her love for her instrument and the music she has dedicated her life to.

Marais And The Operatic Muse will feature music that has virtually never been heard in Australia.  “Virtually all the music in this concert was first performed at the Court of Louis XIV in the late 1600s and the first half of the 1700s”, Eriksson explained.  “Louis was one of history’s most extravagant supporters of the arts.  He funded whole opera and ballet companies and employed one of the finest orchestras in Europe.  Marais played in that orchestra”.  “Louis as King was also a skilled ballet dancer, or at least an enthusiastic amateur, and regularly appeared in Court productions”. 

The musicians: Belinda Montgomery – soprano/Alexander Knight – baritone/Fiona Ziegler – baroque violin/Mikaela Oberg – recorder/Jennifer Eriksson – viola da gamba/Raymond Harvey – harpsichord

Tickets – $35/20 at door; family ticket $90 (2 adults + 2 children). Complimentary drinks will be served.

Bookings ph: (02) 9809 5185; on-line at: www.maraisproject.com.au