During the pandemic, we created Il pianto di Maria in collaboration with English Touring Opera, a short film based on an exquisite cantata formerly attributed to Handel. Recorded at Stone Nest, the project brought together film, orchestra and singers in an intimate setting.

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The film was shaped by our Creative Associate, Rebecca van Beeck, who combined the performance footage with a poetic collage of found and created images of mothers and sons, instinctively weaving image and sound into a single expressive work.

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We always intended for Il pianto di Maria to move beyond the screen, and are now developing a staged version for live performance, exploring inventive ways of integrating the film within different venues.

 

As a companion piece, the programme will also feature Handel’s vivid 1707 cantata Donna che in ciel, celebrating Rome’s deliverance from the earthquake of 1702. Dramatic and richly colourful, the work includes an earthquake, a rainbow – and the possibility of participation by a local choir.