28 Sep Press Release: SalonEra Episodes 4-6
SEPT. 28 – This November and December, three new SalonEra episodes celebrate rapturous music of the 17th century (Divine Love, Nov. 8), the singular genius of Guillaume Machaut (Machaut Man, Nov. 29), and Christmas music from outside the canon (Connoisseur’s Christmas, Dec. 13.) SalonEra is an acclaimed early music-focused webseries from Les Délices that harnesses the power of technology and social media to bring a vast range of topics and repertoires to a global audience of classical music enthusiasts. Balancing conversation with musical performances, SalonEra celebrates the ingenuity, creativity, and dedication of musicians and scholars from around the globe.
SalonEra episodes (see broadcast schedule) are free to watch with a $10 suggested donation. Season Subscriptions ($125) ensure emailed reminders in advance of every episode’s release and on-demand access to SalonEra’s acclaimed first season. New episodes premiere concurrently on Les Délices YouTube Channel, Facebook page, and at SalonEra.org and are available in full for 48 hours following their premiere. Episodes are typically one hour in length and each premiere is followed by a live Q&A with episode guests.
November 8, 2021, Episode 4: Divine Love: Esteemed musicologist Dr. Susan McClary has a reputation for brilliant and provocative scholarship. On November 8th, she is joined by internationally-renowned recorder player and cornettist Alex Opsahl and “alluring” tenor Jason McStoots to probe the ecstatic and often erotic overtones of 17th century music and poetry. 
From the sensual verse of the Song of Songs to the metaphysical writings of John Donne, we explore how composers translated the exuberance of these texts to sound. Alongside commentary from McClary, Opsahl, and McStoots, the episode features new, international remote collaborations of motets by Heinrich Sch├╝tz and exclusive archival video from Tesserae, Opsahl’s acclaimed LA-based early music ensemble that regularly performs music from the Renaissance and early Baroque eras.
November 29, 2021, Episode 5: Machaut Man: Longtime friends and collaborators Debra Nagy and Scott Metcalfe of Blue Heron have co-produced a range of Medieval projects over the years, including last season’s “mesmerizing” Les Délices triumph, Machaut’s Lai of the Fountain (now available on Marquee TV.) In this special episode of SalonEra, Scott and Debra celebrate the forthcoming release of Le Remede de Fortune, a new album collaboratively conceived and performed by Blue Heron and Les Délices. 
Machaut’s Remede is a long-form narrative poem with musical interpolations that tells the story of a young lover’s attempts to live well despite the capriciousness of Fortune. The episode features footage from live performances of Remede de Fortune along with other exclusive archival footage from LD and BH. We also take a closer look at the extravagantly detailed, evocative illuminations found in MS C, one of the most richly-decorated of Machaut’s surviving manuscripts.
December 13th, 2021, Episode 6: Connoisseur’s Christmas: On December 13th, SalonEra presents an intimate holiday episode featuring soprano Grace Srinivasan and harpsichordist Patrick Merrill. Leaving aside the mainstream Christmas fare, this episode reveals hidden treasures that include rarely-heard solo motets by Philipp Friedrich B├Âddecker (1607-1683) and Giovanni Battista Bassani (1647-1716). Stellar violinist Shelby Yamin performs Heinrich Biber’s The Nativity sonata, offering a purely instrumental interpretation of the Christmas Story. Selections from Les Délices’ Noel, Noel concert film (available on Marquee TV Dec. 1-31) round out this festive episode.
EPISODE DETAILS:
Who: Les Délices presents SalonEra Season 2
What: Episode 4: Divine Love, Episode 5: Machaut man, Episode 6: Connoisseur’s Christmas
Where: View at Facebook.com/LesDelicesMusic, YouTube.com/LesDelicesMusic, and at www.salonera.org/watch-now
When: Premieres on November 8, November 29, and December 13, 2021
Cost: FREE, $10 Suggested Donation