FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lois Cohn Associates
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents “Verdi in Paris”
2013 Bel Canto Season Celebrates Verdi’s bicentennial
with a presentation in French of Les Vêpres Siciliennes on July 6 at 7:30pm
Featuring the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Will Crutchfield
Katonah, NY – Caramoor Summer Music Festival and Bel Canto at Caramoor present a celebration of Giuseppe Verdi’s bicentennial. The celebration titled, “Verdi in Paris,” highlights the influence of the time Verdi spent in the Paris on his music. The composer’s long association with the city yielded some of his most significant contributions to opera. For the occasion, Caramoor’s Director of Opera, Will Crutchfield, will lead theOrchestra of St. Luke’s in two of the composer’s grand operas composed explicitly for the Paris Opera – Les vêpres siciliennes and Don Carlos – in their original language.
On July 6 at 7:30 pm in the Venetian Theater, Bel Canto at Caramoor and Maestro Will Crutchfield present an uncut production of Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes, sung in the original French with supertitles. Returning artistAngela Meade and John Osborn head the cast which features baritone Marco Nisticó, bass Burak Bilgiliand tenor Tom Mulder. The performance will include the rarely-heard tenor aria Verdi composed for the 1864 revival of the opera and the music of the Four Seasons ballet. This semi-staged concert performance will be preceded by lectures and recitals in the Spanish Courtyard.
The Verdi bicentennial celebration also includes two special Verdi programs on June 27 and July 25, featuring members of Caramoor’s prestigious Bel Canto Young Artists program. For the first concert, “The Intimate Verdi – Vocal and Instrumental Chamber Music” on June 27, the Young Artists are joined by soprano Angela Meade. The second performance, “Verdi – The Complete Songs for Voice and Piano” on July 25, features some of Verdi’s rarely-heard shorter works.
TICKETS
To order tickets, call the Box Office at 914.232.1252 or visit www.caramoor.org. Groups of 16 or more may purchase discounted tickets by contacting Matthew Scarella at 914.232.5035 ext. 252 or matthew@caramoor.org.
PRESS TICKETS
For press tickets, images, artist information or interviews, contact: Brittnee Walker at (412) 601-2474,bwalker@lcohnpr.com.
VERDI’S BICENTENIAL CELEBRATION AT CARAMOOR
SATURDAY, JULY 6 AT 7:30PM IN THE VENETIAN THEATER
LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES BY GIUSEPPE VERDI
ANGELA MEADE, SOPRANO (HÉLÈNE)
JOHN OSBORN, TENOR (HENRI)
MARCO NISTICÓ, BARITONE (MONFORT)
BURAK BILGILI, BASS (PROCIDA)
TOM MULDER, TENOR (MAINFROID)
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S
BEL CANTO YOUNG ARTISTS
WILL CRUTCHFIELD, CONDUCTOR AND DIRECTOR OF OPERA
PRE-OPERA EVENTS: LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES
During the afternoon prior to the performance, beginning at 2:30PM, all ticket-holders may attend a selection of lectures and recitals along with the chance to picnic in Caramoor’s famous gardens:
2:30pm | Le chant héroïque (Heroic French Singing)
Will Crutchfield presents a selection of rare recordings illustrating the vocalism that made Verdi and French a natural fit, including the voices of twelve singers who collaborated personally with the composer in Paris. When we think of French singing in the abstract, we probably think of elegance and finesse more than of heroic force and brilliance. But all those things coexisted in a style that survived for generations, only to disappear in the mid-20th century.
3:30pm | Les Italiens à Paris (The Italians in Paris)
The Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists sketch this history in a recital of music written for Paris by Piccini, Sacchini, Cherubini, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Mercadante, Verdi and others. French opera has had some Italian DNA at least since 1672, when Louis XIV put a Florentine, Giovanni Battista Lulli, in charge of it. About a century later, the prosperity and variety of Paris’s operatic life became a steady magnet for composers from opera’s homeland.
4:30pm | L’Opêra (The Paris Opera)
The second Young Artist recital of the afternoon explores Verdi’s presentation of Les vêpres siciliennes in 1855 when he was writing to a tradition of grand opéra at its grandest. The style was developed in the 1830s and 40s by Halévy, Auber and Meyerbeer, whose works will be heard in this program.
5:30pm | Dinner Break
Pre-purchase your picnic or enjoy a treat from Great Performances®’ refreshment stands, which open at 2:30pm. See Caramoor.org for details.
6:30pm | Pre-Opera Lecture:
Steven Tharp = lecturer and dramatic coach
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS:
JUNE 27 | THE INTIMATE VERDI – CHAMBER MUSIC AND VOCAL ENSEMBLES
ANGELA MEADE, SOPRANO
BEL CANTO AT CARAMOOR YOUNG ARTISTS
Ave Maria: Enigmatic scale harmonized in four parts (1889, revised 1895)
Ave Maria translated by Dante (1880)
Laudi alla Beata Vergine (Hymn to the Blessed Virgin) (1890)
Guarda che bianca luna (Behold the bright moon) (1839)
Fogli d’Album (Album Leaves) (1842-1863)
String Quartet in e (1873)
Pater Noster translated by Dante (1880)
JULY 25 | VERDI – THE COMPLETE SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO
BEL CANTO AT CARAMOOR YOUNG ARTISTS
ABOUT CARAMOOR
“We built a home, my husband and I, not to be old or new, just to be beautiful. And we built it for music.” ~ Lucie Rosen
Caramoor, the country estate of Walter and Lucie Rosen, was where they built their home and filled it with treasures. Enjoying the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor with its art collection, gardens, and musical programs, in 1946 the Rosens established a public trust to open Caramoor to the community. Their musical evenings were the inspiration for the Caramoor International Music Festival, now in its sixty-eighth year, and the ongoing Music in the Rosen House series.
Since its founding, Caramoor has gained international renown as a cultural institution, presenting music of all types and inspiring artists and audiences alike.
Caramoor enriches the lives of its audiences through intimate, innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality. Education is a valued component of Caramoor’s mission, and Caramoor offers programs for the mentoring of young professional musicians as well as curriculum-based programs for school children emphasizing music, history and visual and decorative arts. Caramoor is often described as “a Garden of Great Music,” where audiences are invited to explore the beautiful grounds and gardens, discover the fascinating collection of period rooms and antiquities, and enjoy beautiful music in the Music Room, Spanish Courtyard and Venetian theater.
Concert Venues and Gardens
Summer concerts take place in two outdoor theaters: the 1,714-seat, acoustically superb Venetian Theater and the more intimate, romantic 558-seat Spanish Courtyard. In the fall and winter all concerts are presented in the magnificent Music Room in the Rosen House. Caramoor’s gardens, also used for concerts, are also well worth the visit and include nine unique perennial gardens. Among them are a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, the Sunken Garden, a Butterfly Garden, the Tapestry Hedge, and the Iris and Peony Garden.
GETTING TO CARAMOOR
By car from the West Side of Manhattan and New Jersey, take the Saw Mill River Parkway north to Katonah. Exit at Route 35/Cross River. Turn right and, at the first traffic light, make a right turn onto Route 22 south. Travel 1.9 miles to the junction of Girdle Ridge Road. Follow the signs to Caramoor. (For detailed directions call 914.232.5035 and press 4, or online at www.caramoor.org). Parking at Caramoor is free.
By train, take the Harlem Division of the Metro-North Railroad to Katonah, New York. Taxi service from the station to Caramoor (5 minutes away) is available.
CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR A FULL FESTIVAL CHRONOLOGY:
https://www.caramoor.org/pdf/Festival_Listings.pdf
Performances are made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester
with funds from Westchester County Government.
Performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts
with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
The 2013 International Music Festival is supported in part by
an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
CARAMOOR CENTER FOR MUSIC AND THE ARTS IS LOCATED AT
149 GIRDLE RIDGE ROAD, KATONAH, NEW YORK 10536.
ALL PROGRAMS AND ARTISTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE