For Immediate Release
Contact: Cohn Dutcher Associates
Lois Cohn, 917.339.7187, lcohn@cohndutcher.com
Dan Dutcher, 917.339.7157, ddutcher@cohndutcher.com
Katherine Barna, 917.339.7189, kbarna@cohndutcher.com

2007 CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

BEL CANTO AT CARAMOOR
CONTINUES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
WITH TWO PERFORMANCES OF
VERDI'S
IL TROVATORE

July 14 and July 20 at 8:00 pm

Francisco Casanova; Julianna Di Giacomo; Ewa Podles;
Daniel Sutin; Daniel Mobbs;
Caramoor Opera Chorus;
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Will Crutchfield, conductor

New York - Caramoor's renowned Bel Canto at Caramoor opera program, under the leadership of Director of Opera Will Crutchfield, continues its 10th anniversary with two performances of VerdI's Il Trovatore on July 14 and 20.  Internationally-renowned contralto Ewa Podles, who made a spectacular Caramoor debut to critical acclaim last summer in Rossini's Tancredi, returns for the performances, which will take place at 8:00 pm in the Venetian Theater.  Il Trovatore is presented in concert with English supertitles.

Ewa Podles, whose Tancredi at Caramoor was uniformly hailed as one of the major operatic events of 2006, makes her return in one of the greatest roles of the contralto repertory:  Azucena, the old gypsy.   Having seen her own mother burned at the stake as a witch, she lives for vengeance, but carries the terrible secret of having accidentally killed her own son.  In his place she raises the son of her enemy, only to deliver him to his death in a final act of revenge. 

The composer himself called this the most important role in the opera, and at one point planned to name it "Azucena" before later deciding to retain the name of the Spanish play (El Trovador) on which it is based.  "If I were a prima donna - and a fine thing that would be - I would always play the role of the gypsy," he later wrote to a colleague.  The music he conceived for the half-crazed woman was the most forward-looking and psychologically intense he had yet written.  Ever since, Azucena has been one of the key roles by which a great dramatic mezzo-soprano or contralto is judged.  Louise Homer, Giulietta Simionato, Fedora Barbieri and more recently Dolora Zajick have given unforgettably gripping portrayals of the part in New York.  Bel Canto at Caramoor is proud to add Ewa Podles to that legendary list.

As the Troubadour himself, Caramoor presents the sensational tenor Francisco Casanova, who made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Manrico in 2001.  A native of the Dominican Republic, he has subsequently taken his Verdi roles to most of the world's great opera houses, including La Scala (I Due Foscari with Riccardo Muti in 2003) and most recently the Vienna State Opera (I Vespri Siciliani in October 2006, winning universal praise in the Austrian press).  The cast also introduces a brilliant new Verdi soprano, Julianna Di Giacomo, as Leonora.  Ms. Di Giacomo has recently been engaged by both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera, where her Fiordiligi took top honors in the recent revival of Cosi fan tutte under Julius Rudel.  Il Trovatore at Caramoor will mark her first New York area appearance in a major Italian-repertory role.  The Count di Luna is sung by Daniel Sutin, another Metropolitan Opera artist, who scored a triumph stepping into that role on short notice last season with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.  Ferrando will be Caramoor's star bass-baritone Daniel Mobbs, singing his eighth role for Bel Canto at Caramoor.

"A great Trovatore is notoriously hard to find and unforgettable when it happens," said Will Crutchfield, who will conduct the Orchestra of St. Luke's with the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists. "I think we have the ingredients.  Enough said, and fingers crossed."  

Special Pre-Opera Events for ticket-holders
During the afternoon and evening of the Saturday 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.  A pre-opera lecture will be held prior to the Friday evening performance.

Saturday, July 14

3:30 p.m. Come è scritto?
Did Verdi want his scores performed exactly as they are written, or did he assume a certain flexibility would be applied to them?  All the controversial topics - cuts, transpositions, high notes - along with others less often examined, will be debated by a panel of experts including Philip Gossett (General Editor of the Works of Giuseppe Verdi), David Lawton (Editor of the Critical Edition of Il Trovatore), and Will Crutchfield.

4:30 p.m. Verdi's Roots
The Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists and pianist Rachelle Jonck will perform a program of the music that influenced Italy's greatest maestro.  Works by Donizetti, Ricci, Bellini, Meyerbeer, along with excerpts from Verdi's early operas.

5:30 p.m.  Dinner Break

7:00 p.m.  Pre-Opera Discussion - Philip Gossett introduces Il Trovatore 
Philip Gossett is the world's pre-eminent scholar of Italian opera.  He is the General Editor of the critical editions of both Rossini and Verdi; the author of the recent Divas and Scholars, which has quickly been recognized as the definitive work on the Bel Canto revival; and the recipient of innumerable awards and prizes, including the Italian government's highest civilian honor, Cavaliere di Gran Croce.

Friday, July 20

7:00 p.m.  Pre-Opera Lecture - David Lawton
David Lawton, Editor of the Critical Edition of Il Trovatore, will discuss the opera.

Tickets
Tickets for Saturday, July 14 are $87.50, $72.50, $57.50, $42.50 and $27.50.  Tickets for Friday, July 20 are $67.50, $55.00, $42.50, $30.00 and $17.50.  Tickets are available online at www.caramoor.org or by calling 914.232.1252.

Concert Sponsor
The July 14 performance is made possible, in part, through generous support from Wachovia Wealth Management in celebration of Bel Canto at Caramoor?s 10th anniversary.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.

Ten Years of Bel Canto
The Bel Canto at Caramoor program 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 its 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 1700-seat Venetian Theatre.  The flagship summer productions have included three operas each by Bellini and Rossini, two each by Donizetti and Verdi, and individual works by Handel, Gluck, Francesco Conti and Pauline Viardot, along with a wide range of concerts. 

Meanwhile a broad repertory has been performed with young artists in the intimate Music Room, ranging from a cycle of the Mozart Da Ponte operas to Verdi's early comedy Un Giorno di Regno.  The prominent young singers tapped early by Caramoor and Crutchfield are too numerous to name, but a few of them include - besides the artists already mentioned - Maria Zifchak, Indra Thomas, Frank Porretta, Kate Aldrich, Daniel Mobbs, Kenneth Tarver, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Krisztina Szabo, Yeghishe Manucharyan, John Osborn and Alexandra Deshorties.  Established artists like Ewa Podles , June Anderson and Sumi Jo have been added to the mix after Crutchfield worked with them in other theaters, and a young artists program added in 1999 has since grown into the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists, a prestigious full-scale training program that has touched the lives of dozens of singers.  The New York Times has called the series "essential," and ten years of achievement show why:  Caramoor is now recognized as a major international center for the interpretation of this important repertory and the development of the singers it requires.

About the Artists

Will Crutchfield, Caramoor Director of Opera
Will Crutchfield spent his teens as a vocal coach and rehearsal pianist, made his name as a writer and musicologist in the mid-1980's (becoming the youngest music critic in the history of The New York Times), and returned to his theater roots in the mid-1990's to conduct opera.  After initial conducting successes with productions in small companies and conservatories, Crutchfield was named to two positions:  Director of Opera for the Caramoor International Music Festival (1997-present) and Music Director of the Opera de Colombia in Bogota (1999-2005).  At these two theaters he built his style, which the Financial Times called "a fine balance of bravado, intensity, sensitivity and scholarly savoir-faire," in cycles of standard repertory classics as well as pioneering revivals of less familiar works. 

Crutchfield has accepted guest engagements in several theaters at home and abroad, including The Canadian Opera Company (Tancredi with Ewa Podles ), The Washington Opera (Giulio Cesare with Hei-Kyung Hong), The Minnesota Opera (I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Sumi Jo and Vivica Genaux; La Traviata with Judith Howarth), the Baltimore Opera (La Cenerentola and Werner Herzog's production of Die Zauberflöte), Florida Grand Opera (Don Pasquale), L'Opéra Français de New York (Gluck's Pélérins de la Mècque), the Mark Morris Dance Group (Dido and Aeneas), Wolf Trap Opera (La Finta Giardiniera), the State Theatre Pretoria (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and the Orquesta Filarmonica de la Gran Canaria (Norma).

In reviews of the celebrated Caramoor revivals - alongside praise for the musical interpretation - the press has consistently recognized the qualities of the rare operas themselves more positively than has been the case in productions elsewhere.  The New York Times, reviewing the production of La Donna del Lago that inaugurated the series, discerned "a palpable conviction that Rossini's serious operas are not static vehicles for elaborate vocal display, but elegant and humane musical dramas."  According to The Wall Street Journal, "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."  Subsequent revivals of Bellini's Il Pirata, Rossini's La Gazza Ladra and Otello, Handel's Deidamia, Gluck's Paride ed Elena and Donizetti's Élisabeth, a lost opera whose autograph manuscript Crutchfield himself discovered and reconstructed have been highly acclaimed.  Most recently Caramoor presented the first American performance of Bellini's La Sonnambula in the new Ricordi critical edition and the composer's original keys and an uncut La Traviata based on period performance practice.

Crutchfield has also been involved in training the next generation of singers.  He prefers to work repeatedly with young artists he believes in so that the process can develop from production to production.  He served on the faculties of all three New York conservatories (Juilliard, Manhattan and Mannes) and he continues to devote the summer months to extensive training programs at Caramoor.  Some of the singers with whose debuts and early careers he has been associated include: Vivica Genaux, Nancy Herrera, Marguerite Krull, Bruce Fowler, Daniel Mobbs, Georgia Jarman, Patricia Risley, Yegishe Manucharyan, Olga Makarina, Kate Aldrich and Alexandra Deshorties. An often-noted component of Crutchfield's research, as of his practical work with singers, has been the recovery and development of the art of ornamental improvisation. 

Francisco Casanova
Francisco Casanova made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Manrico in Il Trovatore in January 2001, followed by Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera and Cavaradossi in Tosca (Met Opera in the Parks, Central Park).  In June 2000, Mr. Casanova made his Vienna Staatsoper debut as Eleazar in Halevy's La Juive, a role he reprised there in 2002.  He made a very successful debut at Carnegie Hall in April 1999 in that same role to the acclaim of both audience and reviewers, with Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York, and in the 1999-2000 season with the New Israeli Opera.  In 1996 he replaced Luciano Pavarotti, at his request, in the "Pavarotti Plus" concert that took place at Avery Fisher Hall singing arias and ensembles from La Boheme, Un Ballo in Maschera, L'Amico Fritz, La Traviata, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor and Il Trovatore. 

Mr. Casanova's more recent responsibilities at the Metropolitan Opera have included the title role in Don Carlo, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Faust in Mefistofele and Cavaradossi in Tosca.  Other engagements included Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Columbus Symphony, operatic concerts with the New Mexico Symphony, and Verdi's Requiem with the Haifa Symphony.

Julianna Di Giacomo
Julianna Di Giacomo, who will also be seen in this summer's Bel Canto at Caramoor performances of Il Trovatore, made a triumphant New York City Opera debut in the 2006-07 as Fiordiligi in the new Jonathan Miller production of Cosi fan tutte, conducted by Julius Rudel.  She also appeared in NYCO's Opera for All Gala, singing the trio from Cosi fan tutte. She had joined the roster of City Opera in 2005-06 covering Jenny in The Mines of Sulphur and the title role of Lysistrata.  Additionally she sang her first Violetta in La Traviata at the Redlands Bowl in Los Angeles.  Engagements for 2006-07 include the Metropolitan Opera as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, First Lady in The Magic Flute and in Suor Angelica. 

Ms. Di Giacomo has previously covered Fiora in L'amore dei Tre Re for Opera Orchestra of New York and appeared with the Nilas Martins Dance Company and members of the New York City Ballet singing Puccini arias and songs. 

While working with Los Angeles Opera, Ms. Di Giacomo sang in Peter Grimes and covered the roles of the High Priestess in Aida and the Page in Lohengrin, in addition to singing many concerts and recitals for the company.  Also in Los Angeles, she sang the roles of Mimi in La Boheme, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, First Lady in The Magic Flute, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Suor Genevieffa in Suor Angelica and covered Alice Ford in Falstaff with UCLA Opera.

Daniel Mobbs
The young American baritone Daniel Mobbs, who will also be seen in this summer's Bel Canto at Caramoor performances of Il Trovatore, has won praise on both sides of the Atlantic for his fine singing and lively stage portrayals.  Mr. Mobbs began his 2005-06 season with a return to NYCO as Lord Sydney in Il Viaggio a Reims, and continued with Opera Grand Rapids as Ping in Turandot and Carnegie Hall where he sang Frederick in Lakme with Opera Orchestra of New York.  He also sang his first Leporello in Don Giovanni with Portland Opera and Taddeo to Vivica Genaux's Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri with Anchorage Opera.  Additional engagements included Raphael/Adam in Haydn's Creation with Huntsville Symphony and Giorgio in I Puritani, and Orbazzano to Ewa Podles' Tancredi with Caramoor International Music Festival.

In 2007 he returned to NYCO as Douglas in La Donna del Lago and as Marcello in La Boheme in addition to singing in the Rossini Otello with Opera Orchestra of New York. He also appeared as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Connecticut Grand Opera and Marcello with New Orleans Opera. He makes his Florida Grand Opera debut in 2007-08 as Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte.

Ewa Podles
Ewa Podles made her spectacular Caramoor debut to critical acclaim last summer in Rossini's Tancredi.  With her distinctive, dramatic voice of staggering range, agility and amplitude, she is widely regarded as the world's foremost contralto. Her recent engagements have included the Seattle Opera (title role of Handel's Giulio Cesare, Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma and Erda in Wagner's Ring cycle); San Diego Opera (Cesare in Giulio Cesare); San Francisco Opera (Polinesso in Handel's Ariodante), Canadian Opera Company (Cesare in Giulio Cesare, Jocasta in Oedipus Rex, Klytamnestra in Elektra and title role of Rossini's Tancredi); Houston Grand Opera (Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera and the Marquise in Donizetti's La fille du Régiment); Dallas Opera (Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda and Erda in the Ring cycle); Milwaukee's Florentine Opera (Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore), Michigan Opera Theatre (Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera) and Minnesota Opera (Malcolm in Rossini's La donna del lago). Appearances at New York's Carnegie Hall include Orphée in Gluck's Orphée et Euridice with the Oratorio Society of New York, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Collegiate Chorale, baroque and Rossini programs with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Das Lied von der Erde with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Szymanowski's Three Hymns with Sinfonia Varsovia.  Other recent recital appearances have included recitals at Boston's Jordan Hall, Vancouver's Chan Centre and on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series, as well as sensationally received performances of Rossini's cantata Giovanna d'Arco with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (in Pittsburgh and at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall) and Toronto Symphony; and Tancredi in concert with the Detroit Symphony under the auspices of the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which previously presented her in recital as well as in an acclaimed, semi-staged version of Orfeo. She has sung principal roles at the Metropolitan and Vancouver Operas; Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Frankfurt Alte Oper; Gran Teatre del Liceu; Teatro Bellini; La Scala; La Fenice; Teatro San Carlo; Warsaw's National Theatre; Théâtre Châtelet and Opéra Bastille.

Daniel Sutin
Following a Verdi Gala for the Santa Barbara Opera in September 2006, Daniel Sutin began his sixth season at the Metropolitan Opera with the world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, followed by Paolo in Simon Boccanegra.  In early 2007 Mr. Sutin debuts the role of Orestes in Elektra with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.  During his 2007-2008 season, Mr. Sutin will make his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and in 2008 he will debut with Holland's Reisopera as Germont in La Traviata and with San Antonio Opera as Valentin in Faust.

Mr. Sutin's other appearances at the Metropolitan Opera include roles in Falstaff and Wozzeck, as will as Paris in Romeo et Juliette.  He has also sung the roles of Silvio in I Pagliacci in Toledo, Ford in Falstaff for the New Jersey Opera Theater, and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with the Connecticut Grand Opera.   

Orchestra of St. Luke's
2006 marked the 32nd year of America's foremost chamber orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's.  Formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in the summer of 1979, the orchestra evolved from the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, which was established in 1974, with Ensemble members forming the Orchestra's artistic core as principal players. St. Luke's currently performs approximately 100 orchestral, chamber and educational concerts throughout New York each year, all showcasing the hallmark collaborative spirit that has garnered St. Luke's consistent critical acclaim for vibrant music-making of the highest order.

In addition to being presented by Carnegie Hall in an annual series in the Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Orchestra of St. Luke's continues a 20-year collaborative relationship with Carnegie Hall that currently includes participation in such Carnegie events as the Choral Workshop, Family Concerts, concert presentations of musical theater and others.  The Orchestra is also engaged throughout the year in a number of artistic collaborations with other New York City cultural organizations and serves each summer as the Orchestra-in-Residence at the Caramoor Festival.

About Caramoor
Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built the great house 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 the International Music Festival today. 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 - the Rosens established a Foundation to open Caramoor to the public in perpetuity.

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. Under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Caramoor is a Garden of Great Music. "We invite people to come early, explore our beautiful grounds, take a tour of the House Museum, visit our gift shop, enjoy a pre-concert picnic and discover beautiful music in a relaxed setting," advises Paul Rosenblum, Caramoor's Managing Director. 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

Art and Gardens
Concerts take place in two outdoor theaters - the large, acoustically superb Venetian Theater, and the more intimate, romantic Spanish Courtyard.  Caramoor is more than just music - there is beauty at every turn.  The House Museum, the former summer home of Caramoor's founders, Lucie and Walter Rosen, contains a vast collection of Renaissance, 18th-century and Eastern art objects - furniture, tapestries, sculpture, paintings, textiles, porcelain and jade. There are entire rooms that were imported from European palaces and villas.  In fact, Caramoor is one of just five mansions in the country that incorporate entire rooms into its collection, twenty of which are open to the public.  On Thursdays and Fridays, Afternoon Tea is served in the Summer Dining Room, overlooking the charming Spanish Courtyard.

Caramoor's gardens are also well worth the visit. Nine unique perennial gardens - including a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, a Butterfly Garden, a Medieval Mount and two gardens whose special characteristics are enjoyed primarily at night - may be seen on a guided tour or on one's own.

House Museum
Guided tours of the House Museum are provided from Wednesday through Sunday, 1-4 p.m., with the last tour at 3 p.m. On Saturdays during the Festival, tours are given from 1-5 p.m., with the last tour at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 (children 16 and under free).

Getting to Caramoor
Caramoor is easy to get to by car, mass transportation or the Caramoor Caravan.

From Manhattan, take the Caramoor Caravan and ride comfortably in a luxurious, air-conditioned coach.  Round trip service is $22 and is available for all Saturday and Sunday performances during the Festival.  The Caravan departs from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Upper West Side and East Side locations. Call the Box Office (914-232-1252) for further information and reservations.

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.

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 caramoor.org).

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.

# # # # #

Bel Canto at Caramoor

July 14                           Il Trovatore
Saturday, 8:00 pm         by Giuseppe Verdi
Venetian Theater           Leonora - Julianna Di Giacomo, soprano
$87.50, $72.50              Azucena - Ewa Podles , contralto
$57.50, $42.50              Manrico - Francisco Casanova, tenor
$27.50                           Count di Luna - Daniel Sutin, baritone
                                      Ferrando - Daniel Mobbs, bass-baritone
July 20                          Caramoor Opera Chorus; Orchestra of St. Luke's
Friday, 8:00 pm             Will Crutchfield, conductor
Venetian Theater
$67.50, $55.00
$42.50, $30.00
$17.50
      
The July 14 performance is made possible, in part, through generous support from
Wachovia Wealth Management in celebration of Bel Canto at Caramoor's 10th anniversary.

Tickets
Tickets may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252 or online at caramoor.org.

Press Tickets:
Katie Barna
917.339.7189
kbarna@cohndutcher.com