BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261031T211804Z
UID:673185e0-644b-455a-bdfb-e21689e78fc3
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261219
DESCRIPTION:Dec 19\, 2026\nMuch to his annoyance\, contemporaries apt to fi
 nd the music of Hector Berlioz outré and hard on the ear were pleasantly 
 surprised by his post-Nativity oratorio L’Enfance du Christ (Christ’s 
 Childhood). “Many people imagined they could detect a radical change in 
 my style and manner\,” the composer-librettist wrote. “This opinion is
  entirely without foundation. The subject naturally lent itself to a gentl
 e and simple style of music\, and for that reason alone was more in accord
 ance with their taste and intelligence.” But what\, we ask\, is gentle o
 r simple about the raving Herod or the diabolical soothsayers who drive hi
 m to mass infanticide? What’s gentle or simple about Mary and Joseph’s
  anguish when they arrive in Egypt to find doors slamming in their faces? 
 Is the tense\, atmospheric march of soldiers in the night gentle or simple
 ? No\, and as we can see in retrospect\, it paved the way to a nocturne in
  Les Troyens\, the epic opera Berlioz was shortly to embark upon. Converse
 ly\, the way the oratorio embeds brief\, sometimes quite peripheral narrat
 ive episodes in a panoramic symphonic fresco harks back to his “dramatic
  symphony” Roméo et Juliette. In Hamburg\, the refined colorist Robin T
 icciati leads the Chamber Orchestra of Europe\, the choristers of the NDR 
 Vokalensemble\, and an outstanding quartet of soloists: the mezzo-soprano 
 Samantha Hankey as Mary\; the tenor Cyrille Dubois as the Narrator (modele
 d on the Bach Evangelists) and a Centurion\; the baritone Stéphane Degout
  as Joseph and Polydorus\, Herod’s prickly commander of the guard\; and 
 in the plum assignment of Herod\, half crazed with panic\, the bass Willia
 m Thomas\, who returns later as the unnamed Ishmaelite carpenter who simpl
 y and gently invites Joseph to join him in his shop.
LOCATION:Elbphilharmonie Hamburg\, Platz d. Deutschen Einheit 4\, 20457 Ham
 burg\, Germany
SUMMARY:L'Enfance du Christ\, by Hector Berlioz
URL;VALUE=TEXT:https://airmail.news/arts-intel/events/lenfance-du-christ-by
 -hector-berlioz
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR