The Songs & The Plays - Kean on Shakespeare

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The Songs & The Plays Listen on Youtube Love’s Labours Lost (1593-94) A revised and polished version of this play was presented for Queen Elizabeth I and her court at Christmas 1598. However the elevated language and subject matter of the drama suggests it was always intended for a sophisticated and highly literate audience. There are two parallel plots – one ‘high’ comedy and one ‘low’ comedy. In the high comedy the King of Navarre and his friends make a pact to ‘fast and study’ and to have no contact with women for three years. No sooner have they agreed than the Princess of Aquitaine and her ladies in waiting arrive to discuss ‘state matters’. Inevitably the King falls in love with the Princess and his friends with the French ladies in waiting. The Gentlemen find loophole in their vows and woo and win women with a dance. The Ladies become aware of their broken vows and treat the noblemen with scorn. In the low comedy the page Moth and the clown Costard ridicule the exaggerated m...
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La Belle France - A Multi-Media Presentation - Background

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La Belle France

This unique multi-media performance combines the professional talents of three Lancashire artists in music and images to bring a true flavour of France. The themes of gardens, flowers, animals and love are typically French and the most appealing to British Francophiles. This presentation offers something for everyone, and a peek over the fence at our nearest European neighbours.

The recital by Oldham born mezzo-soprano Helena Kean and pianist Graham Jackson, from Preston, includes romantic and impressionist songs by Duparc, Debussy, Ravel and Fauré as well as 20th century pieces by Poulenc, Milhaud and Satie. 

This relaxing journey into French Song will take you from the Grand Boulevards of the Belle Époque and afternoon promenades along the river Seine, to the smoky cabarets and the bohemian cafés of the artists of Montmartre.

The Impressionist painter Monet and his world famous garden at Giverny is the subject of one of the lectures given by Brenda Kean. The other features the magnificent Palace of Versailles and other treasures of pre-revolution France. The centrepiece is the megalomaniac “Sun King” Louis XIV, France’s most glamorous monarch and his 65 years of unbridled spending.  

This unique style of presentation has brought new audiences to classical music and was nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.

Our Travel Itinerary in 2000

In Paris:  Musée d’Orsay    Parc Monceau       Quartier Latin       Musée Marmottan

                Le Louvre            Jardin Shakespeare    Jardin de Bagatelle    Trocadéro

                Eiffel Tower          Musée de Cluny    Arenas de Lutèce    La Sainte Chapelle

               Jardin des Plantes    La butte aux Cailles    Le Marais        Musée Carnavelet

Giverny:    Monet’s House & Garden

St Germain-en-Laye:     La Maison Debussy    The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Maincy:     The Château de Vaux le Vicompte

Versailles:  Le Chateau    Le Grand Trianon    Le Petit Trianon    Le Hameau

Montfort l’Amaury:     Musée Maurice Ravel    Eglise St Pierre    Restaurant Chez Nous

 

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