Main Characters:
- Paulina Francisco, Anima (Soul)
- Anicet Castel, Corpo (Body)
- Paul Max Tipton, Mondo, Tempo, Anima Dannata (World, Time, Damned Soul)
- Pablo Bustos, Intelletto (Intellect)
- Jermaine Woodard Jr., Consiglio (Counsel)
- Benjamin Rauch, Piacere (Pleasure)
- Salome Sandoval, Angel Custode, Anima Beata (Guardian Angel, Blessed Soul)
- Jennifer Tyo Oberto, Vita Mondana (Worldly Life)
The award-winning Crescendo, a choral and Baroque music group based in Sharon, CT, draws singers and musicians from across the tri-state area. Founded by conductor Christine Gevert in 2006, Crescendo will present Body & Soul: Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo on May 10 and 11 in Lakeville, CT, and Great Barrington, MA, respectively. The performance features 35 auditioned singers, 8 invited soloists, and 14 accompanying musicians. Gevert will also lead a pre-concert talk on Saturday, May 3. Crescendo’s work offers audiences a rich and nuanced experience of early music.
A passionate advocate for early music, Gevert has expanded Crescendo’s scope by founding several ensembles under its banner: Crescendo Chorus, Crescendo Vocal Ensemble, Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra, and Crescendo’s Ensemble of Andean Instruments. Of German and Chilean descent, Gevert earned degrees in both countries. Education remains central to Crescendo’s mission, offering training programs for young singers and instrumentalists.
Rappresentatione, first staged in 1600 by Roman composer Emilio Cavalieri, is a groundbreaking work that blends opera and sacred oratorio. The allegorical drama pits worldly vanities against spiritual life, embodied by characters such as Soul, Body, Counsel, Pleasure, Intellect, and Time, with a chorus providing commentary. Solos, duets, ensembles, and instrumental interludes weave together a vivid musical narrative.
In an interview, Gevert described Rappresentatione as “very direct music,” shaped by an early Baroque understanding of emotional cause and effect. “The music speaks very strongly to our emotions that haven’t changed in 400 years,” she said. “It either is very relaxing, or it draws you into an emotional outburst that you understand in the same way you would have when the Rappresentatione was composed.”
This period, she noted, introduced a new way of writing music—la nuova musica —in which melody became dominant and was supported by a technique called basso continuo, or figured bass. Cavalieri was among the first to apply this method, grounding the harmonies with a composed bass line while allowing some improvisation. “That was the groundbreaking change,” Gevert said. “Music became a vehicle to express humanity, to express human emotions and move the human being.” Even without understanding the Italian text, she added, one can feel its urgency. “There’s this emotional thing that’s rushing syllable by syllable really fast—time is fleeting, life is short.”
Gevert also pointed out that Rappresentatione builds on the medieval tradition of the morality play: “It came out of a time when the church spoke of becoming a better person and becoming more spiritual versus just going with your emotions and passions.” Body and Soul dispute how to live—one seeking pleasure, the other principle. “In the end,” she said, “together they live the heavenly existence.”
The performance will feature a range of period instruments—including plucked strings, recorders, and early brass—and theatrical effects such as thunder to evoke scenes of temptation and transcendence. The group engages in expressive gestures and simple movement underscoring the music’s meaning. Soprano Paulina Francisco, an internationally sought-after performer and scholar of early vocal music, performs the role of Soul.
Catherine Tharin danced with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company touring nationally and internationally. She teaches dance studies and technique, is an independent dance and performance curator, choreographs, writes about dance for Side of Culture and Interlocutor, and is a reviewer for The Dance Enthusiast. She also writes for The Boston Globe. Catherine lives in Pine Plains, New York and New York City.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.