Graduate student Stephane Crayton (KC 2014) has once again joined forces with alumna Rachel Stroud (KC 2015) and Dante scholar Lorenzo Bastida to present performances of 3 Dreams to audiences across Tuscany. An earlier version of the concert was performed in November in the Round Church, and as part of the Easter at King's Festival in the Chapel.
Throughout the tour, the trio gave six performances in churches, schools, palaces and theatres, beginning in Florence and stopping by Arezzo and Pienza, where a highlight was giving a concert in the Palazzo Piccolomini. The performances consisted of recitations of passages from Dante's Vita nuova and La divina commedia on the theme of dreaming, interspersed with commentary, and music composed by Stephane Crayton for two violins - one baroque and one modern.
Of the tour, Stephane commented:
For me the most rewarding part of this project has been finding a different audience for this research ... it was heartening to see such positive reactions to the music which is at times difficult to listen to, the poetry which can be complicated and very dark, and the theatre which can be quite eccentric. 3 Dreams worked because we found a genuine function together: it wasn’t Dante+music but a theatre of their negotiation.
An interview with Stephane, with additional imagery from the tour, can be found below.
