Boston Camerata singers for “A Medieval Christmas.” (Courtesy photo)
“A Medieval Christmas: Hodie Christus Natus Est” by The Boston Camerata is coming to the Lincoln Theater at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7.
The cast includes Anne Azéma, Camila Parias, and Deborah Rentz-Moore on vocals and Christa Patton on harp and winds.
Channeling Christmas spirituality from medieval France, Italy, and England, the show includes music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity, songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads, sung in Latin, old French, old Provençal, Saxon, interlaced with medieval English texts of the Nativity.
The roots of this production go back to 1974-75, when The Boston Camerata and then Director (now Director Emeritus) Joel Cohen performed in concert and then recorded, for the Nonesuch label, a new production entitled “A Medieval Christmas.” That vinyl LP quickly became a best seller, confirming Camerata’s status as a leading ensemble in the early music world.
From her home in Massachusetts, Artistic Director Azéma said she discovered this signature Camerata program when still a student, on vacation in the south of France.
“This unknown bunch of Americans were scheduled to perform in a tiny Romanesque chapel,” Azéma said. “I had never heard any music like it, and I was enchanted. There was something so real and immediate about the repertoire, and the performance. It sparked something inside me. Eventually, I came to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory. I also joined the Boston Camerata as a chorus member, and observed the medieval Christmas production, season after season, as it evolved from the program we know from the Nonesuch recording, advancing in performance style, incorporating new works, but always maintaining the sense of awe and discovery that I had first witnessed in the little chapel.”
Tickets are available from Lincoln Theater box office and website. For more information, go to lincolntheater.net, call the box office at 563-3424, or drop by the theater at 2 Theater St. in Damariscotta.
