National Press Representative:
Lois Cohn Associates
CARAMOOR CENTER FOR MUSIC AND THE ARTS PRESENTS “VERDI IN PARIS”
2013 BEL CANTO SEASON CELEBRATES VERDI’S BICENTENNIAL WITH PRESENTATIONS IN FRENCH OF
LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES ON JULY 6 AND DON CARLOS ON JULY 20
WITH THE ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S LED BY WILL CRUTCHFIELD
KATONAH, NY – Bel Canto at Caramoor will celebrate Verdi’s bicentennial with “Verdi in Paris,” one of its most ambitious projects to date: presenting both of the composer’s French grand operas – Les vêpres siciliennes andDon Carlos – in their original language. On July 6, Maestro Crutchfield will conduct the original 1855 five-act score of Les vêpres siciliennes. On July 20, “Verdi in Paris” continues with a performance of the complete 1884 revision of Don Carlos. Maestro Crutchfield conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in both productions, which will be semi-staged with supertitles in the Venetian Theater.
The production of Les vêpres siciliennes on July 6 features soprano Angela Meade returning as Hélène after her triumphant Caramoor debut performance in 2009’s Semiramide—named “best-of-the-year” on short-lists in both The New Yorker and The New York Times—and her equally lauded performance in Caramoor’s 2010 production of Norma. Tenor John Osborn, baritone Marco Nisticó, and bass Burak Bilgili complete the cast.
The presentation of Don Carlos on July 20 will be the four-act version that Verdi 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. The cast features soprano Jennifer Check, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, tenor Arnold Rutkowski, baritone Stephen Powell, bass Christophoros Stamboglis, and bassSamuel Ramey.
Both operas will be performed uncut; Les vêpres siciliennes will include the rarely-heard tenor aria Verdi composed for the 1864 revival of the opera.
“Verdi in Paris” is framed by two special concerts, both featuring members of Caramoor’s prestigious Bel Canto Young Artists program. For the first program, “The Intimate Verdi – Vocal and Instrumental Chamber Music” on June 27, they are joined by soprano Angela Meade. For the second, they present an important and neglected part of Verdi’s legacy: “Verdi – The Complete Songs for Voice and Piano” on July 25.
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 or alaudicano@lcohnpr.com at (732) 996-8215.
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)
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S
WILL CRUTCHFIELD, CONDUCTOR
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:
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.
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.
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.
Pre-Opera Lecture: Lecturer to be announced
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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
CREDITS
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