Palais Royal Ensemble on ARTE

The Palais Royal Ensemble directed by Jean-Philippe Sarcos perform Italian Baroque Masters
Concert given at the Saint Louis Chapel, Paris
19th October 2010
Production: Oléo Films
Running Time: 01:32:02

Programme:-
D. Scarlatti (1685-1757), Iste Confessor - processional hymn for soprano solo, choir and continuo
M. Uccellini (1603 – 1680), Bergamasca - chaconne for 2 violins and continuo
D. Scarlatti (1685-1757), Stabat Mater à 10 - for choir and continuo
B. Rubino (1643-1668), Lauda Jerusalem - chaconne for 2 violins, soloists, choir and continuo
A Corelli (1653-1713), Sonata opus 3 n°3 in B flat Major for 2 violins and continuo
A. Lotti (1665-1740), Credo for 2 violins, soloists, choir and continuo
A. Vivaldi (1678-1741), Lætatus sum RV 607 - ostinato pour violons, choeur et continuo



The Palais royal is an ensemble with a new style, dedicated to interpreting Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. The ensemble brings together an orchestra which uses authentic instruments and a choir of young singers specialised in interpreting early music. For this concert, 30 singers and 6 instrumentalists interpret a set of stunning works of Italian music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Stabat Mater for 10 voices by Scarlatti, Lotti's Credo, Chaconnes and an Ostinato by Uccellini, Rubino and Vivaldi.

Ensemble Palais Royal official website
Chapelle Saint-Louis at the Ecole Militaire page on French Ministry of Culture website

The World of Lucas Cranach

Lucas Cranach, Justice
Private collection

The World of Lucas Cranach - An Artist in the Age of Dürer, Titian and Metsys
Palace of Fine Arts, Brussels
20th October 2010 - 23rd January 2011

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 - 1553) was one of the greatest European painters of the 16th century. This exhibition - the first to be devoted to the artist in a Benelux country - places the work of this leading figure of the German Renaissance in the social, cultural, and artistic context of his time. A court painter, he also rubbed shoulders with great figures such as Martin Luther, while liberating nudity and the power of women in a sensual, anti-academic style. Some 150 paintings, drawings, and rarely seen engravings show the authenticity and originality of his sophisticated artistry, his work in the studio, and his close bonds with his German, Italian, and Dutch contemporaries, including Titian, Dürer and Metsys. A journey through a fascinating period in European history.

Hawking versus God

(Article by Sylvestre Huet in Libération)

In his latest book, the English physicist Stephen Hawking responds to the proponents of 'intelligent design' by claiming that the existence of the universe follows from the laws of physics alone. Philosophy or marketing stunt? How does one sell several million copies of a book on the cutting edge of physics and modern cosmology? Here's the recipe, concocted and certified by multinational publisers Bantam Press.

One: highlight the name of Stephen Hawking in large letters on the cover. Yes, that of the author of the bestseller A Brief History of Time (almost 10 million copies sold since 1988). The English physicist, occupant of the Chair of Newton at Cambridge, who has experienced the agony of a terrible disease (neuromuscular dystrophy), confined to a wheelchair for over thirty-five years, deprived of speech and today of all movement. And gloss over the co-writer Leonard Mlodinow, in smaller letters on the cover.

A media strategy from hell

Two: the title, The Grand Design. With the subtitle New Answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life. Is this the work of a guru? With recipes for living and transcendental meditation? Yes, and it's good for sales. Selling the idea that physics has the answer to existential questions sounds crazy, but it works.

Three: insert a sentence with the word "God" in it. In A Brief History of Time, this was to assert that the future Theory of Everything (in capitals) would allow us to access "the thoughts of God." Something that would earn you a harsh note in a philosophy exam paper. Here, the opposite, or nearly so. This sentence is, of course, on the penultimate page of the book (page 180): "Because there are laws like gravity, the universe can and must create itself from nothing. [...] Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. There is no need to invoke God to press the 'on' button and start the universe."

Four: a media strategy from hell. With articles on the front pages of the English and American press, based solely on that small sentence. The newspapers will lend themselves to the marketing operation, because if God sells, attacks on God sell even more. So controversy is guaranteed, since religious leaders answer to the call of the media. As is already the case with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Financial bingo. 'Thank you, Stephen' whisper his entourage and his publisher inaudibly.

A Voice from the Cold - Vivica Genaux

For thirteen months a documentary film crew based in Berlin filmed Vivica Genaux in various concert and private venues around the world. The icing on the cake was her January 1, 2004 recital in Fairbanks, Alaska marking a return to the city of her birth.

Entitled A Voice Out Of The Cold, the documentary opens with Vivica bundled up in winter clothing standing in the snow and waving a white cloth as she hails a passenger train that will take her home to Fairbanks. In the film, Vivica shares her memories of her growing up years in Fairbanks where she first showcased her vocal talent as Eliza Doolittle in her high school's production of My Fair Lady.

And she shares the music she has become famous for as well. The film shows footage with René Jacobs and the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin in rehearsal for a concert in Berlin in February 2003. She is also heard both in rehearsal and in a January 2004 recital with pianist Craig Rutenberg at the Charles W. Davis Concert Hall in Fairbanks. There is also film footage of a session in Venice with her coach Attilio Cremonesi.

A Voice out of the Cold - Part I/IV