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She Did It First

She Did It First
La Bella by Palma Vecchio, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Will the real Alcina please stand up? For opera fans, the Alcina that comes to mind is the seductive sorceress and titular role in George Frideric Handel's 1735 opera seria, based on the Italian epic by romantic Renaissance poet Ludovico Aristo. Mixing history with high fantasy, Aristo’s tale follows a chivalrous knight during Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne's campaign to defend Christianity against the Saracen army. Magicians and maidens interfere, and a hero even takes a ride upon a hippogriff — the mythical mare with the wings and head of an eagle that was invented by Aristo, long before it was borrowed by J.K. Rowling for "Harry Potter."

Handel also wrote "Orlando" and "Ariodante" based on the poem, but back in 1625, Italian composer Francesca Caccini had already staged the material in her comic piece "The Liberation of Ruggiero from The Island of Alcina" — the first opera written by a woman. In Caccini's tale of romantic rivals and gender-bending, wandering knight Ruggiero (the one who rides the hippogriff) falls under the love spell of the wicked witch Alcina, and must be saved by the good witch Melissa, disguised as a man. "Alcina" (Francesca’s Version) will be at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, June 23, and Saturday, June 24, as part of the Boston Early Music Festival.

Alexander Wilburn

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A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

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Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

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Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

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Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

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For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

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