KATONAH, NY - Michael Barrett, CEO and General Director of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, today announced the lineup for the 65th Caramoor International Music Festival, held annually at the Center's distinguished 90-acre garden estate in Katonah, New York.  The summer festival program, which will run from June 26 to August 8, offers enormous appeal to all audiences with a rich array of artists and repertoire from the worlds of classical, jazz, Latin, bluegrass, and popular music. Maintaining his deep commitment to presenting great opera at Caramoor, Director of Opera Will Crutchfield leads the festival's 14th annual Bel Canto at Caramoor series with Donizetti's Maria di Rohan on July 24 and two performances of Bellini's Norma on July 10 and July 16.  Maestro Crutchfield conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke's in both productions, which will be semi-staged with supertitles in the Venetian Theater.

 

Bellini's Norma is the unquestioned pinnacle of bel canto opera and the favored role of its greatest exponents from Giuditta Pasta and Giulia Grisi to Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland.  Its moving story and mesmerizingly beautiful score combine to create one of the most perfect unions of music and drama in any era.  Soprano Angela Meade, returning after her triumphant Caramoor debut in 2009's Semiramide made "best-of-the-year" short-lists in both The New Yorker and The New York Times, takes on the challenging title role for the first time in this Caramoor presentation of Norma.  Soprano Keri Alkema, lauded for her fiery Donna Elvira in the new City Opera production of Don Giovanni, makes her debut as Adalgisa; tenor Emmanuel di Villarosa (hailed as "possibly the best Alvaro since Richard Tucker" at Caramoor in 2008), and bass-baritone Daniel Mobbs ("a showstopper" in Semiramide) complete the cast.

 

The operas Gaetano Donizetti wrote in the last few years before his death are a still-surprising group of masterpieces.  Maria di Rohan, a brilliant, fast-paced tragedy set in the Paris of Richelieu, is perhaps the  most tense and exciting of them.  Arguably his most modern opera, this taut, intimate drama of affection and violence prefigures the world of Un ballo in maschera, Eugene Onegin and Werther.  The opera calls for a truly Verdian heroine, and soprano Takesha Kizart -- whose Caramoor debut in  La Forza del Destino convinced The Financial Times that she is "destined for a place in the distinguished line of Verdi sopranos" -- returns to the festival for the role of Maria. Fast-rising Brazilian tenor Luciano Botelho is her lover, the dashing Count of Chalais, in his first-ever U.S. appearance; former Young Artist Scott Bearden makes his Caramoor main stage debut as Maria's husband, the Duke of Chevreuse.

 

When Chopin was a young man, bel canto opera was the most popular music in the world, and it was the music he loved best: "His playing," reported one pupil, "is based entirely on the singing of Pasta, Malibran and Rubini - he says so himself!"  The last half-century has seen that music return to the mainstream after generations of neglect.  Bel Canto at Caramoor celebrates the great composer's 200th birthday on July 15 with a program combining the music Chopin knew with the compositions in which he transformed and idealized it into his own unique language.  The virtuoso Russian poet of the piano -- Vassily Primakov -- performs a selection of Chopin's Nocturnes, Mazurkas, a Ballade and a Waltz-works that solidified the composer's reputation as an absolute master of the piano.  Caramoor's Bel Canto Young Artists sing selected bel canto works that inspired Chopin, by composers such as Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.

 

 

SATURDAY, JULY 10 AT 8:00PM - VENETIAN THEATER
FRIDAY, JULY 16 AT 8:00 PM - VENETIAN THEATER
NORMA by Vincenzo Bellini
ANGELA MEADE, SOPRANO (Norma) 
KERI ALKEMA, SOPRANO (Adalgisa)
EMMANUEL DI VILLAROSA, TENOR (Pollione)
DANIEL MOBBS, BASS-BARITONE (Oroveso)
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Will Crutchfield, conductor

 

Pre-Opera Events: Norma
During the afternoon and evening prior to each opera performance, ticket-holders can also enjoy a varied menu of lectures and recitals along with the chance to picnic in Caramoor's famous gardens. 

3:00 Norma in History *  Andrew Porter, whose sixty-year career as one of the world's most respected music critics, has seen all the great Normas since Maria Callas's 1953 London debut in the role; with Caramoor's Opera Director Will Crutchfield he discusses their art and interpretations, and what we can glean from historical documents and recordings about those who came before them.
4:15 Bel Canto a Due *  Duets in close harmony, sensuous or virtuosic, lie at the heart of Norma and many other bel canto operas.  Members of Caramoor's Young Artist and Apprentice programs explore the genre of chamber music that lies behind these operatic highlights.
5:00 Song, Song, and Again Song: Wagner and Bellini,  "Gesang, Gesang, und nochmal Gesang!"  This was the exhortation to his fellow Germans with which Richard Wagner closed his memorable essay on Bellini, the Italian composer he admired most profoundly.  The Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists illustrate the link in a recital of music by both composers.
7:00 Pre-opera lecture:  Andrew Porter introduces Norma

                           *events marked with an asterisk will take place before the July 10 performance of Norma ONLY.

 

SATURDAY, JULY 24 AT 8:00PM - VENETIAN THEATER
MARIA DI ROHAN  by Gaetano Donizetti
TAKESHA KIZART, SOPRANO (Maria, countess of Rohan)
LUCIANO BOTELHO, TENOR (Riccardo, count of Chalais)
SCOTT BEARDEN, BARITONE (Enrico, duke of Chevreuse)
VANESSA CARIDDI, MEZZO-SOPRANO (Armando di Gondì)
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Will Crutchfield, conductor

 

Pre-Opera Events: Maria di Rohan
During the afternoon and evening prior to the opera, ticket-holders can also enjoy a varied menu of lectures and recitals along with the chance to picnic in Caramoor's famous gardens. 

3:00 The Genesis of a Masterpiece.  Renowned opera scholar Philip Gossett and Caramoor Opera Director Will Crutchfield discuss what Donizetti wrote, when he wrote it, and how we know--including the story of Prof. Gossett's discovery, just last year in Russia, of the composer's previously unknown version of one of the lead roles in Maria, heard at Caramoor for the first time since its original performance.   
4:15 Maria Plus.  All the alternative music from Maria di Rohan---belonging to versions other than the one performed in our main stage production---with Philip Gossett accompanying members of the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists.
5:00 Donizetti: Stage, Salon, and Chapel.  The Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists in a program sampling the inexhaustible breadth of Donizetti's late music: songs, chamber music, operatic scenes, and the haunting choral works he prepared as Hofkapellmeister in Vienna.
7:00 Lecture. Philip Gossett introduces Maria di Rohan

THURSDAY, JULY 15 AT 7:30PM - SPANISH COURTYARD
Chopin at 200: Chopin Bel Canto
BEL CANTO AT CARAMOOR YOUNG ARTISTS
VASSILY PRIMAKOV, piano

 

Works by: Chopin, Donizetti, Rossini, Bordogni, de Garaudé and transcriptions by: Viardot, Giacobetti, Rothmüller

 

 

Under the leadership of Director of Opera Will Crutchfield, Caramoor's renowned Bel Canto at Caramoor--an operatic exploration that Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times calls "an essential contribution"--begins its 14th season of outstanding opera programming during the 2010 Caramoor International Music Festival.  Bel Canto at Caramoor began in 1997 with Rossini's La Donna del Lago, starring Vivica Genaux, Marguerite Krull, Bruce Fowler, and Matthew Chellis.  At its inception, diva Marilyn Horne predicted success:  "These singers are very lucky to have Will Crutchfield," she told the press before summer festival.  The New York Times quickly agreed, praising "a palpable conviction that Rossini's serious operas are not static vehicles for elaborate vocal display, but elegant and humane musical dramas" in a review of the opening.  The Wall Street Journal reported in 1997, "Mr. Crutchfield brought his sure sense of bel canto style to bear upon Lucrezia Borgia, and the semi-staged concert version at Caramoor's Venetian Theater was both delightful and thought-provoking...its dark (yes, Verdian) intensity is certainly a revelation."  The Financial Times added its praise following 1999's La Gazza Ladra, lauding the virtuosic young cast and hailing Crutchfield's style as "a fine balance of bravado, intensity, sensitivity and scholarly savoir-faire." 

Ever since, growing ranks of critics from the national and international press have maintained that consensus, and capacity audiences have filled Caramoor's 1714-seat Venetian Theater.  The flagship summer productions have included four operas each by Bellini and Rossini, three by Donizetti, two by Verdi, and individual works by Handel, Gluck, Francesco Conti and Pauline Viardot, along with a wide range of concerts. 

 

 

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home -- known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor -- and filled it with their treasures.  Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world.  Their musical evenings were the seeds of today's Caramoor International Music Festival. Realizing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor -- the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs on summer evenings -- in 1946 the Rosens established a public charity to open Caramoor to the community.  Lucie Rosen survived her husband by seventeen years.  During those years, she expanded the Music Festival: the Spanish Courtyard was used as a setting for musical events, as it is today, and, under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Caramoor is a performing arts center located on a unique 90-acre setting of Italianate architecture and gardens in Westchester County, NY.  It enriches the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality.  Its mission also includes mentoring young professional musicians and providing educational programs for young children centered around music.  It is often described as "a Garden of Great Music" where audiences are invited to come early, explore the beautiful grounds, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover beautiful music in the relaxed settings of the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Music Room of the Rosen House, and the magnificent gardens.

 

With its unique heritage, Caramoor remains a place where magical summer days and nights are shared and enjoyed by thousands. "Caramoor is the loveliest Festival of them all." - The New York Times

 

Concert Venues and Gardens
Concerts take place in two outdoor theaters: the 1714-seat, acoustically superb Venetian Theater and the more intimate, romantic Spanish Courtyard.  Caramoor's gardens are also well worth the visit and include nine unique perennial gardens.  Among them are a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, a Butterfly Garden, Tapestry Hedge, and Iris and Peony Garden, which may be enjoyed on one's own or seen on a guided tour.

 

 

Caramoor is easy to get to by car and mass transportation.  The Caramoor Caravan is available for Bel Canto at Caramoor performances.

 

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 2, 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.

 

From Manhattan, take the Caramoor Caravan to Bel Canto at Caramoor opera performances on July 10, 16, and 24, and ride comfortably in a luxurious, air-conditioned coach.  For information and reservations call the Caramoor Box Office at 914.232.1252.

 

TICKETS
Norma  $25 - $95; Maria di Rohan $20 - $85; Chopin Bel Canto $15, $25; Tickets for Bel Canto at Caramoor productions, as well as all other performances in the 2010 Caramoor International Music Festival, are on sale now. Tickets may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252, or online at.caramoor.org.

 

PRESS TICKETS
For Press tickets, contact Whitney Holden at 917.339.7188 or wholden@cohndutcher.com.

 

 

On June 24 at 7:00pm, Classical 105.9 WQXR, New York's sole 24/7 classical music station, will present a sneak peek of this summer's Caramoor International Music Festival. In a live broadcast from The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, WQXR Host Terrance McKnight will be joined by Caramoor's General Director Michael Barrett, who will introduce singers, pianists, violinists, and quartets from this year's festival lineup.  This lively evening of music and talk will be broadcast live on WQXR and video-streamed live at www.wqxr.org, and www.thegreenespace.org.

 

 

Performances are made possible with public funds from
the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. 

 

 

CARAMOOR CENTER FOR MUSIC AND THE ARTS IS LOCATED AT
149 GIRDLE RIDGE ROAD, KATONAH, NEW YORK.

 

ALL PROGRAMS AND ARTISTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
# # # #