July 2, 2021 – In 2020-2021, Les Délices takes SalonEra to new heights with twelve episodes set to premiere between September and April. Now in its second season, SalonEra is an early music variety show that serves a global audience of classical music enthusiasts. With trademark style, SalonEra pairs enlightening conversation and the highest possible quality recordings of rarely-heard early music from...
[caption id="attachment_19155" align="alignleft" width="196"] Portrait of Jen Craun by Robert Muller[/caption] For our 2021-2022 Season, Les Délices commissioned Cleveland-based artist Jen Craun to design silkscreen monoprints that captured each of our Concert Series programs and the season’s overarching theme: Until Sky Above. We spoke to Jen about her art, the allure of pandemic baking, and what she loves most about Cleveland. Read...
2021-22 CONCERT SERIES: UNTIL SKY ABOVE Les Délices turned the struggles of the pandemic into an opportunity to create innovative digital concerts, expand its audiences in Cleveland and beyond, and start a popular online early music variety show called SalonEra. In 2021-22, Cleveland’s acclaimed early-music chamber ensemble plans to continue this upward trajectory with its new season, Until Sky Above. Artistic Director...
"Now that the cold and dreary winter is behind us, our thoughts turn to spring. And with trees beginning to blossom and flowers blooming we can begin to think about cultivating the garden. On April 8 at 7:30 pm, Les Délices will celebrate the Medieval garden and it’s centerpiece — the fountain — with the debut of Machaut’s Lai of the Fountain. The program...
"The star of this particular show, composer Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, was hardly left in the shadows. Having gained the support of Lous XIV, she was highly visible, with frequent performance of her work. More importantly she enjoyed the rare privilege of having her work published. But according to Nagy, de la Guerre was not the isolated genius she...
Our upcoming concert Machaut’s Lai of the Fountain (premiering April 8th) is inspired by the rare beauty of the medieval garden and its prized centerpiece - the fountain. A private garden encapsulated a sort of paradise not so different from the Garden of Eden and its centerpiece fountain was an artful combination of engineering and architecture: form and function came...
Les Délices’ 2020-21 Virtual Concert Series comes to a close with our most ambitious video project to date: Machaut’s Lai of the Fountain, a collaboration with Boston’s Blue Heron, which features Machaut’s stunning Lai along with works by Pykini, Ciconia, and others. Lai of the Fountain, together with an upcoming online release from BH entitled Le grant retthorique forms a...
For her first published collection of cantatas, composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) eschewed the traditional subjects of nymphs, goddesses, and trickster gods from Greco-Roman mythology. Instead, she took stories from the Old Testament, focusing almost exclusively on the heroines: Susanna, Esther, Rachel, Jephta’s Daughter, and Judith. It’s unclear what drove this artistic choice but the inherent drama of...
"Les Delices, a Cleveland-based early music ensemble, is celebrating Women's History Month with two special online programs. First will be the premiere concert "Women in Music" at 7:30 p.m. Monday,, featuring Bay-area soprano Michele Kennedy. The program, produced remotely with Les Delices, features vocal and instrumental music by historic female composers Clara Schumann, Maddalena Sirmen, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda and Elisabeth Jacquet...
"Both the music and the history of women composers are very much underexplored. So it’s fitting that Les Délices will begin its celebration of Women’s History Month with a new entry in their SalonEra series of performances and conversations — there will be plenty to hear, and plenty to learn. Premiering online on Monday, March 15 at 7:30 pm, and remaining...