Centre de Musique Romantique - Venice

Time abducting theTruth
by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734),
Palazetto Zane

Situated in Venice, Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française was created by the Bru Foundation with the object of promoting international recognition of the French musical repertoire of the nineteenth century - more precisely of the repertoire of the long Romantic period ranging from 1780 to 1920.
As well as being a lively workplace and a venue for artistic events, it will provide documentary resources and facilities for teaching and research and will also publish or sponsor the publication of scores and essays.
The inauguration will take place on October 3, 2009, date of opening of the 2009/2010 musical Season.

Glossary of the 18th-Century Costume Terminology

Glossary of the 18th-Century Costume Terminology.
A useful link for those interested in 18th-Century costume and fashion.

Philippe Quinault - Publications & News

Philippe Quinault

Philippe Quinault was a dramatist who composed libretti for Jean-Baptiste Lully's works. Together, they created the French opera, established the genre and led it to its highest expression.
Two books dedicated to Philippe Quinault have been released this year. The first one, by William Brooks in January and the second one by Buford Norman in June.

- BROOKS, William, Philippe Quinault, Dramatist, Oxford, Bern / Berlin / Bruxelles / Frankfurt am Main / New York / Wien, Peter Lang (Medieval and Early Modern French Studies), 2009, 512 p.
ISBN 9783039115334

- NORMAN Buford, Quinault, librettiste de Lully - Le Poète des Grâces, CMBV-Mardaga, 2009, 383 p.
ISBN 9782870099957
This is the French translation, completed and updated, of Touched by the Graces: The Libretti of Philippe Quinault in the Context of French Classicism), published by Summa Publications, 2001.

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There is also a NEW WEBSITE dedicated to Quinault by Buford Norman. You can find it here, and it's in French.
If you can't read French but are interested in the French Parnassus monument, you'll find a picture of the Quinault medallion by Simon Curé.

Some observations upon 'The French Parnassus' - I

Du Tillet's Parnassus combined elements from two traditions. While the title refers to mount Parnassus, the monument shows Pegasus strinking the earth with his hoof and causing the Hippocrene to well forth. The myth of Pegasus and the Hippocrene are related to mount Helicon, not to mount Parnassus.

Mingling details or symbols from various proveniences was common at that time. The symbols were the words of an allegorical language. They were used to deliver a powerful contemporary message, they were not meant to be a faithfull illustration of the myths of Ancient Greece.

Dress for Dance

Costume Colloquium II : Dress for Dance
6-9 november 2010 - Florence, Italy

Call for Papers

Following the great success of the first Costume Colloquium (held in Florence 6-9 November 2008 and attended by over 315 participants from 26 countries with 39 presentations on 8 themes), there will be a second symposium in November 2010 on the subject of Dress for Dance.

Costume Colloquium II: Dress for Dance will explore interdisciplinary aspects of dance dress and costume, this multi-cultural mode of human expression, from a variety of practical, historical and creative perspectives. For four days (exact dates to be determined) participants will attend lectures, see demonstrations, have on-site visits as well as observe or participate in exclusive dance performances. This unique symposium will be of interest not only to costume and dance historians, costume designers, costume makes, museum curators, archivists, textile and costume conservators, dancers and dance re-enactors, etc., but also to students and members of the public with a desire to learn about dress for dance from the experts in the fieldsexamined.

The topics of Costume Colloquium II: Dress for Dance will include the following themes:

- History of dance costume for professional performance : theatre, ballet, cinema, etc.
- Dress for traditional and ceremonial dance : costume as expressions of cultures
- Fashion and popular dance : relationship between popular music, new styles of dance and fashionable dress, past and present
- Creating dance costume : designers, artists, artisans, stylists, tailors, seamstresses using traditional, experimental and/or contemporary materials and techniques
- Historical dance re-enactment : getting the steps and the clothing right
- Dance costume in museums and archives : collecting designs and surviving costume, conservation, display techniques
- Documenting dance dress : dress as documents and documents of dress
- Dance costume and artistic expression : their reciprocal relationship

Find More on : costume-textiles.com

Portrait of Rameau Uncovered

A supposed portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau
by Jean-Baptiste Van Loo (studio)

The score on the table tells us the man is a musician. After close examination and comparison with the other portraits of Rameau, I find the man on the picture and Rameau share so many distinctive features that the chances are high that they are the same person.
The portrait was unveiled in the booklet of Hugo Reyne & La Simphonie du Marais latest recording : Rameau - Concerts mis en Simphonie.

A word about the recording. Hugo Reyne gives a transcription for orchestra of the Concerts de Pièces de clavecin (1741), a series of character pieces Rameau composed for three instruments (harpsichord, violin, & viola or a second violin or a flute). It's a very convincing transcription which makes for an enjoyable listening experience, although I would have liked more verve in the performance at some moments.

18th & early 19th-century Costumes on Auction

Hotel Drouot (Paris)
June 12, 2009 - 1:00pm

Exhibition :
June 11 - 11:00 am to 6:00pm
June 12 : 11-12 am

Pictures on Thierry de Maigret