Anne Azéma
Encyclopedia
Anne Azéma, is French
-born soprano
and artistic director of the Boston Camerata. She has been an important or leading singer of early music
since 1993. She has co-directed programs for the Boston Camerata
and is also noted as a music scholar. She is perhaps best known for performing music from the Middle Ages
, lute
songs from the Renaissance
period, Baroque
sacred music, and contemporary music theater. She is also a music educator and a researcher. She has performed in Japan
, Germany
, the US
, Australia
and elsewhere.
Anne Azéma's special field is secular/vernacular song of France and Provence
in the Middle Ages. She shared a "Grand Prix du Disque" for her role as Iseult in the Boston Camerata's recording of Tristan and Iseult
. Four solo recital albums, The Unicorn, The Game of Love, Provence Mystique and Etoile du Nord also document her original work in this area.
Ms. Azéma is a founding member of the Camerata Mediterranea
, touring with them internationally and appearing on all of their CDs (Edison Prize) She has also been prominent in many of the Boston Camerata's American music projects, taking the role of Mother Ann Lee
of the Shakers in the dance-and-music theater work "Borrowed Light" (premiered in 2004) by Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen and Camerata director Joel Cohen. Ms. Azéma's current discography numbers over thirty five recordings as a soloist, recitalist or director on the Warner — Erato, Harmonia Mundi
, Virgin, Nonesuch
, Bridge
, Calliope, Atma and K 617 labels.
Anne Azéma is the founder and director of the European-based Ensemble Aziman.
In 2007 Ms. Azéma, leading Aziman, directed the music for a staged work Le Tournoi de Chauvency, performed in major theaters of eastern France and Luxembourg
.
2008-2009 marked her first season as the Artistic Director of The Boston Camerata. During 2009-2010 she has led the Camerata on tour in the United States, Germany, and France.
In December, 2010, Anne Azéma was decorated as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic, at a ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1. CDs Recordings: Recital and Music Direction
Le Tournoi de Chauvency : Une joute d’Amour en Lorraine, K617- 2007
Etoile du nord : Gauthier de Coincy et le miracle médiéval, Calliope - 2003 (CD of the Year, Toronto Star, 10 de Répertoire)
Die Stadt der Narre: weltliche und geistliche Macht im Frankreich und der Provence des Mittlealters, WDR - 2001
El Maestro, WDR - 2000
Provence mystique : Sacred Songs of the Middle Ages, Erato - 1998 (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique, YYYYY Diapason, nominated for the Grand Prix des Discophiles, ffff Télérama, 5 Classica)
Le Jeu d’amour : the game of love in Medieval France, Erato – 1996, (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique)
The Unicorn : Medieval French love songs, Erato - 1994 (10 de Répertoire, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 'Critics Choice’ Gramophone, YYYYY Diapason)
2. CDs as Vocal Soloist
A Mediterranean Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Warner - 2006
L'harmonie du Monde, Doulce Mémoire, Virgin/Naïve - 2003
Li tans Nouviaus, Constantinople Ensemble, ATMA - 2003 (nominated Opus, Montréal)
The Almanac : Shira Kammen and Friends, Bright Angel Records - 2003
Golden Harvest: More Shaker songs, The Boston Camerata, Glissando - 2000
Cantigas, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato (Edison Prize, 10 de Répertoire) - 1999
Liberty Tree, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
What then is Love: Elizabethan Songbook, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
Douce Beauté, Pierre Guédron, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
Angels, The Boston Camerata &Tod Machover, Erato - 1997
Johnny Johnson, Kurt Weill; The Boston Camerata, Erato (Disque de l'année, Le Monde; Diapason D'Or; Choc du Monde de la Musique) – 1997
Brain Opera: Tod Machover - 1996
Trav'ling Home: American Spirituals, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1996
Carmina Burana, The Boston Camerata, Erato ( 10 de Répertoire) - 1996
Farewell Unkind, Songs and Dances of John Dowland, The Boston Camerata. Erato (Choc du Monde de la Musique) - 1996
Quel Diletto, Organisatie Oude Muziek, Utrecht – 1995
Le Roman de Fauvel, The Boston Camerata, Erato, 10 de Répertoire) – 1995
Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals, The Boston Camerata, Erato – 1995
Bernatz Ventadorn : Le Fou sur le Pont, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato (nominated, Grand Prix des Discophiles, Critic's Choice, Grammophone) - 1994
An American Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1993
Nueva España, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1992
Lamentations; Jean Gilles, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1992
The American Vocalist, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1991
Lo Gai Saber, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato - 1991
A Baroque Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Nonesuch - 1991
Valis, Tod Machover, Bridge - (CD of the Year, The New York Times) - 1990
Le Pont Sacré, Erato (Référence de Compact) - 1990
A Renaissance Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Nonesuch - 1989
Requiem; Jean Gilles, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1989
Tristan & Iseult, The Boston Camerata, Erato (Choc du Monde de la Musique, 10 de Répertoire, Grand Prix du Disque) - 1987
Noël, Noël: A French Christmas, Erato - 1988
New Britain, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1986
La Primavera, The Boston Camerata, Erato – 1983
Josquin des Prés; Missa Pange Lingua et motets, Harmonia Mundi - 1982
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-born soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and artistic director of the Boston Camerata. She has been an important or leading singer of early music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
since 1993. She has co-directed programs for the Boston Camerata
Boston Camerata
The Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Narcissa Williamson, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as an adjunct to that museum's musical instrument collection....
and is also noted as a music scholar. She is perhaps best known for performing music from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
songs from the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period, Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
sacred music, and contemporary music theater. She is also a music educator and a researcher. She has performed in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and elsewhere.
Anne Azéma's special field is secular/vernacular song of France and Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
in the Middle Ages. She shared a "Grand Prix du Disque" for her role as Iseult in the Boston Camerata's recording of Tristan and Iseult
Tristan and Iseult
The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult...
. Four solo recital albums, The Unicorn, The Game of Love, Provence Mystique and Etoile du Nord also document her original work in this area.
Ms. Azéma is a founding member of the Camerata Mediterranea
Camerata mediterranea
Camerata Mediterranea is a French non-profit organization, an international, intercultural institute of musical exchanges. Camerata Mediterranea devotes itself to research, dialogue, and pedagogy involving the diverse musical civilizations of the Mediterranean basin, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim....
, touring with them internationally and appearing on all of their CDs (Edison Prize) She has also been prominent in many of the Boston Camerata's American music projects, taking the role of Mother Ann Lee
Ann Lee
Mother Ann Lee was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers....
of the Shakers in the dance-and-music theater work "Borrowed Light" (premiered in 2004) by Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen and Camerata director Joel Cohen. Ms. Azéma's current discography numbers over thirty five recordings as a soloist, recitalist or director on the Warner — Erato, Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
, Virgin, Nonesuch
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
, Bridge
Bridge Records, Inc.
Bridge Records, Inc. is an independent record label based in New Rochelle, New York that specializes in 20th century classical music. Its president is Becky Starobin...
, Calliope, Atma and K 617 labels.
Anne Azéma is the founder and director of the European-based Ensemble Aziman.
In 2007 Ms. Azéma, leading Aziman, directed the music for a staged work Le Tournoi de Chauvency, performed in major theaters of eastern France and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
.
2008-2009 marked her first season as the Artistic Director of The Boston Camerata. During 2009-2010 she has led the Camerata on tour in the United States, Germany, and France.
In December, 2010, Anne Azéma was decorated as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic, at a ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Note
A list of Anne Azéma Discography:1. CDs Recordings: Recital and Music Direction
Le Tournoi de Chauvency : Une joute d’Amour en Lorraine, K617- 2007
Etoile du nord : Gauthier de Coincy et le miracle médiéval, Calliope - 2003 (CD of the Year, Toronto Star, 10 de Répertoire)
Die Stadt der Narre: weltliche und geistliche Macht im Frankreich und der Provence des Mittlealters, WDR - 2001
El Maestro, WDR - 2000
Provence mystique : Sacred Songs of the Middle Ages, Erato - 1998 (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique, YYYYY Diapason, nominated for the Grand Prix des Discophiles, ffff Télérama, 5 Classica)
Le Jeu d’amour : the game of love in Medieval France, Erato – 1996, (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique)
The Unicorn : Medieval French love songs, Erato - 1994 (10 de Répertoire, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 'Critics Choice’ Gramophone, YYYYY Diapason)
2. CDs as Vocal Soloist
A Mediterranean Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Warner - 2006
L'harmonie du Monde, Doulce Mémoire, Virgin/Naïve - 2003
Li tans Nouviaus, Constantinople Ensemble, ATMA - 2003 (nominated Opus, Montréal)
The Almanac : Shira Kammen and Friends, Bright Angel Records - 2003
Golden Harvest: More Shaker songs, The Boston Camerata, Glissando - 2000
Cantigas, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato (Edison Prize, 10 de Répertoire) - 1999
Liberty Tree, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
What then is Love: Elizabethan Songbook, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
Douce Beauté, Pierre Guédron, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1998
Angels, The Boston Camerata &Tod Machover, Erato - 1997
Johnny Johnson, Kurt Weill; The Boston Camerata, Erato (Disque de l'année, Le Monde; Diapason D'Or; Choc du Monde de la Musique) – 1997
Brain Opera: Tod Machover - 1996
Trav'ling Home: American Spirituals, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1996
Carmina Burana, The Boston Camerata, Erato ( 10 de Répertoire) - 1996
Farewell Unkind, Songs and Dances of John Dowland, The Boston Camerata. Erato (Choc du Monde de la Musique) - 1996
Quel Diletto, Organisatie Oude Muziek, Utrecht – 1995
Le Roman de Fauvel, The Boston Camerata, Erato, 10 de Répertoire) – 1995
Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals, The Boston Camerata, Erato – 1995
Bernatz Ventadorn : Le Fou sur le Pont, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato (nominated, Grand Prix des Discophiles, Critic's Choice, Grammophone) - 1994
An American Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1993
Nueva España, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1992
Lamentations; Jean Gilles, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1992
The American Vocalist, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1991
Lo Gai Saber, Camerata Mediterranea, Erato - 1991
A Baroque Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Nonesuch - 1991
Valis, Tod Machover, Bridge - (CD of the Year, The New York Times) - 1990
Le Pont Sacré, Erato (Référence de Compact) - 1990
A Renaissance Christmas, The Boston Camerata, Nonesuch - 1989
Requiem; Jean Gilles, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1989
Tristan & Iseult, The Boston Camerata, Erato (Choc du Monde de la Musique, 10 de Répertoire, Grand Prix du Disque) - 1987
Noël, Noël: A French Christmas, Erato - 1988
New Britain, The Boston Camerata, Erato - 1986
La Primavera, The Boston Camerata, Erato – 1983
Josquin des Prés; Missa Pange Lingua et motets, Harmonia Mundi - 1982