The Portrait Players, Claire (soprano), Kristiina (theorbo/lute) and Miriam (cello/viol da gamba) love playing the music from the 17th and 18th centuries but they are also fascinated by the brilliant creative women who inspired so much of it.

In Paris, writers, who had a strong influence on the development of creative thought through their literary salons and whose poems were set by the leading composers of the time; in London, the pioneering singer-actresses who had newly been permitted to perform in public and inspired some of Purcell’s most popular theatre songs.

In their programme they introduce us to many of these women and the songs they inspired - including:

Honoré d’Ambruis - Le doux silence de nos bois
Sébastien Le Camus - Délices des étés
Michel Lambert - Laissez-moi soupirer
Henry Purcell - O let me weep
Henry Purcell - From rosy bowers