FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lois Cohn Associates
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents
Don Carlos on July 20 at 7:30pm
2013 Bel Canto season celebrates Verdi’s bicentennial with a presentation in French of Don Carlos
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. Following the presentation of Les vêpres siciliennes on June 6, Caramoor’s Director of Opera, Will Crutchfield will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a production of Don Carlos in its original language.
The July 20 at 7:30pm in the Venetian Theater, Bel Canto at Caramoor and Maestro Will Crutchfield present Verdi’s Don Carlos in an uncut performance of the four-act version that the composer reworked directly with Camille du Locle, one of the two librettists. The pair created French verses for the newly added music and subsequently published the version in French. Renowned mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore sings her first-ever Eboli, joined by soprano Jennifer Check, tenor James Valenti, baritone Stephen Powell, and bassChristophoros Stamboglis.
The operas will be framed by two special Verdi programs. For the first concert, “The Intimate Verdi – Vocal and Instrumental Chamber Music” on June 27, the Bel Canto 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 20 AT 7:30PM IN THE VENETIAN THEATER
DON CARLOS BY GIUSEPPE VERDI
JENNIFER CHECK, SOPRANO (ELISABETH)
JENNIFER LARMORE, MEZZO-SOPRANO (EBOLI)
JAMES VALENTI, TENOR (DON CARLOS)
STEPHEN POWELL, BARITONE (RODRIGUE)
CHRISTOPHOROS STAMBOGLIS, BASS (PHILIPPE)
MIKHAIL SVETLOV, BASS (THE GRAND INQUISITOR)
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S
BEL CANTO YOUNG ARTISTS
WILL CRUTCHFIELD, CONDUCTOR
PRE-OPERA EVENTS: DON CARLOS
During the afternoon prior to the performance, beginning at 2:30 PM, all ticket-holders may attend a selection of lectures and recitals along with the chance to picnic in Caramoor’s famous gardens:
2:30pm | En decouvrant Don Carlos (Discovering Don Carlos)
One of the most dramatic events in the history of operatic scholarship was Andrew Porter’s discovery, in 1967, that dozens of pages of unknown music by the mature Verdi could be recovered from orchestral parts preserved at the Paris Opera. Mr. Porter returns to Caramoor to tell the story of this adventure in a panel discussion on the rediscovery of Don Carlos with Philip Gossett and Will Crutchfield.
3:30pm | Pages inconnues (Unknown Pages)
Andrew Porter introduces the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists as they sing excerpts from the Don Carlos music Verdi later cut or revised – including some passages never before performed in public, such as a version of the last act that begins with Don Carlos (not Elisabeth) waiting alone at the Monastery of Yuste.
4:30pm | Schiller dans le musique (Schiller in Music)
Friedrich Schiller was the dramatist to whom Verdi turned to more often than any other for operatic subjects, and his visionary idealism inspired dozens of other composers as well. Caramoor delved into this body of works in 2011 (when another Schiller opera, Guillaume Tell, was on the bill). This performance returns to that theme with a fresh program, this time emphasizing the Verdian connection.
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
Andrew Porter introduces Don Carlos
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