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
CONCLUDES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
WITH
DONIZETTI'S
LINDA DI CHAMOUNIX

July 21 at 8:00 pm

Sarah Coburn; Barry Banks; Marco Nistico;
Laura Vlasak Nolen; Ricardo Herrera; Eric Jordan;
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, concludes its 10th anniversary with Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix on July 21.  This world premiere of the definitive critical edition by Gabriele Dotto, joint General Editor of Ricordi's Donizetti Edition, will be semi-staged with English supertitles and take place at 8:00 pm in the Venetian Theater.

Caramoor's Linda di Chamounix will feature restored music not heard since the opera's premiere in 1841 and the first performance ever of the original tenor aria, which Donizetti replaced with a lower-lying number before the premiere.  The cast will be headed by Sarah Coburn, fresh from a triumph as another Donizetti heroine (Lucia) at the Glimmerglass Opera, and tenor Barry Banks, returning after his brilliant performance in the fiendishly difficult role of Arturo in I Puritani opposite Sumi Jo at Caramoor last year.  Joining them will be mezzo-soprano Laura Vlasak Nolen, baritone Marco Nistico, bass-baritone Ricardo Herrera and bass Eric Jordan.  Will Crutchfield will conduct the Orchestra of St. Luke's. 

"Linda is a real jewel," said Crutchfield.  "Delicious melodies, pathos and originality in the treatment of the characters, and wonderful opportunities for a large cast.  It's easy to see why it stayed popular for so long.  The music is as spirited and fresh as anything Donizetti wrote, and there are wonderful surprises in the orchestra.  Donizetti had the ability to be a chameleon while always remaining himself, and here he was writing for Vienna, for a public that knew its Schubert and Mendelssohn."

About the Opera
Donizetti achieved the summit of operatic ambition early in the 1840's with an appointment as Kapellmeister in Vienna, and Linda was his calling-card opera there.  Its all-star cast at the 1841 premiere included singers who spent the rest of the decade creating roles in Verdi's operas- between them, they were represented in the premieres of Nabucco, Un Giorno di Regno, Macbeth, Alzira, La Traviata and Rigoletto.  The roles Donizetti wrote for them in this opera kept Linda wildly popular for several generations, surviving into the era of Amelita Galli-Curci and Lily Pons.  Today it is best remembered for the lilting soprano aria "O luce di quest'anima," but the whole score is on a high level of inspiration, and Donizetti paid tribute to the city of Schubert and Beethoven with a full-scale symphonic overture of rare beauty. 

Special Pre-Opera Events for ticket-holders
During the afternoon and evening on Saturday, July 21, ticket-holders can enjoy a varied menu of lectures and recitals along with the chance to picnic in Caramoor's famous gardens.

3:30 p.m. Taking it apart, putting it together
Linda di Chamounix editor Gabriele Dotto, Toronto Star critic William Littler, and Caramoor Opera Director Will Crutchfield in a conversation about the process of composing - and recomposing - opera in the 19th century.  Why are there so many "versions" of so many operas?  How do we choose what to sing and play today?

4:30 p.m. Donizetti in Vienna
Recital by the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists with Rachelle Jonck, piano.  Near the end of his unimaginably productive life, Donizetti won the most coveted post in Europe:  Kapellmeister in Vienna.  The busy composer set about writing a series of works for a public that knew its Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn.

5:30 p.m. Dinner Break

7:00 p.m.  Pre-Opera Lecture - Gabriele Dotto introduces Linda di Chamounix 
The renowned Italian musicologist Gabriele Dotto is the joint General Editor of Ricordi's critical edition of Donizetti's operas, and the volume editor for Linda di Chamounix.

Tickets
Tickets are $87.50, $72.50, $57.50, $42.50 and $27.50 and by calling 914.232.1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.

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 Caramoo'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. 

Barry Banks
Barry Banks, who appeared at Caramoor last summer as Arturo in I Puritani and will be seen later this summer in Linda di Chamounix, has established himself as one of today's finest interpreters of the bel canto repertoire.  He is much in demand on the international opera platform performing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, English National Opera, Chatelet, Salzburg Festival, La Monnaie, The Santa Fe Opera, Teatro Communale di Bologna and Oper Frankfurt amongst others. His roles include: Lindoro (L'Italiana in Algeri); Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore); Don Ramiro (La cenerentola); Oreste (Ermione); Tom Rakewell; Tamino (Die Zauberflöte); Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia); Belfiore & Libenskof (Il viaggio a Reims); Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor); L'Astrologue (Le coq d'or) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni).

Opera highlights this season include Don Ramiro and Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at The Metropolitan Opera and The Love for Three Oranges at Opéra National de Paris. In concert he will be guest soloist for the Swedish Chamber Orchestra's New Year concerts and will appear with the Hallé conducted by Mark Elder.

Sarah Coburn
Hailed as "a budding prima donna of exceptional promise" by the New York Observer, Sarah Coburn is captivating audiences everywhere she sings.  In the 2006-07 season, she will return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Princess Yue-Yang in the world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, perform the title role in Utah opera's production of Lucia di Lammermoor, the role of Kitty in the world premiere of David Carlson's Anna Karenina at Florida Grand Opera and Opera Theater of St. Louis, and will return to Glimmerglass Opera to sing Euridice in Haydn's L'anima del filosofo. 

Sarah Coburn was a winner of the 2004 George London Foundation Awards, a 2004 recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, a 2004 Jensen Foundation Award winner, and was a National Grand Finalist in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Ricardo Herrera
As an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera, Ricardo Herrera appeared in many roles including Baron Douphol (La Traviata), Zaretski and The Captain (Eugene Onegin), Henry B. (The Mother of Us All) and Second Mate (Billy Budd).  In addition to his performance as Marchese in Linda di Chamounix, his debut with Bel Canto at Caramoor, Mr. Herrera's 2007 season is highlighted by appearances as guest soloist with New York Festival of Song in "Amores Nuevos" at Carnegie's Weill Hall.  Recently, he performed Escamillo in Oldenburg, Germany, and in several feature roles with the San Francisco Opera.  Recent engagements have included Schaunard and Colline in La Bohème with Western Opera Theater, the title role in Don Giovanni with Pine Mountain Music Festival, Escamillo in Carmen with El Paso Opera and the Oldenburgisches Staadstheater (Germany), The Green Knight in the American Opera Projects' premiere of Pearlee's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Leo in the world premiere of Spratlan's Earthrise; the title role in Macbeth with Berkeley Opera, Pallante in Agrippina and Somnus in Semele, Cadmus with Chicago Opera Theater, Taddeo in The Italian Girl in Algiers with San Francisco Opera, and Tiresias and Le Veilleur in Enesco's Oedipe with Sinfonia da Camera.

Eric Jordan
Eric Jordan has been sought by opera companies across the country for his trademark "big bass and presence to match" (Opera News). His voice was described as possessing "a resonant, ringing tone that was well produced throughout its range" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  Recent appearances include the roles of Sacristan in Tosca with El Paso Opera, Sparafucille in Rigoletto at the Belleayre Music Festival, Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Ashby in La Fanciulla del West with the New York City Opera. During the 2005/06 season, Mr. Jordan was engaged to sing Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring with Gotham Chamber Opera and re-engaged by the New York City Opera in the productions of Capriccio, Il Viaggio a Reims, The Mines of Sulphur, Lysistrata and Carmen.  Mr. Jordan made his Caramoor debut during the 2006 International Music Festival in productions of Bellini's I Puritani, Rossini's Tancredi, and a Bel Canto celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.  Next season, Mr. Jordan will return to the New York City Opera to appear in productions of La Bohème, Semele, Madame Butterfly and La Traviata. In addition, he has been reengaged by the Gotham Chamber Opera to sing the role of Gaudenzio in Rossini's comic gem Il Signor Bruschino.

Marco Nistico
Acclaimed for his vocal artistry, baritone Marco Nistico's singing career has taken him to many theaters throughout Europe and across the United States. He became a Resident Artist at the New York City Opera after his successful debut in the role of Morales in Carmen in spring of 2005, followed by performances of Prudenzio in Rossini's Il Vaggio a Reims, Schaunard in La Bohème and Morales in Carmen Zurga in Les Pecheurs de Perles.  His 2006-2007 New York City Opera roles include Le Dancairo in Carmen this past fall and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly in the spring, as well as covering Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte and Germont in La Traviata.
 
Marco Nistico received his BA in Theater Studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. He studied voice with his father, Maestro Benito Nistico of the Avellino Conservatory in Italy, and at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel.   He currently pursues his studies in opera repertoire with renowned soprano Renata Scotto.

Laura Vlasak Nolen
Recently hailed by the Financial Times for her "large and lush mezzo-soprano," Texas native Laura Vlasak Nolen has quickly established herself on the operatic scene.  Ms. Nolen was recently honored by New York City Opera with the Richard F. Gold Career Grant which is awarded to a young American singer who appears destined for a major career.  Ms. Nolen's 2006-07 season included the role of Malcolm in New York City Opera's production of La donna del lago, and an engagement with the Opera Orchestra of New York in their production of Otello.  In concert she appeared as soloist at Avery Fisher Hall with the Richard Tucker Foundation under Asher Fisch conducting members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Danbury Symphony, and in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Westfield Symphony. In the 2007-08 season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Waltraute in Die Walküre.

Ms. Nolen made her professional debut singing Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte at Cleveland Opera - a role which she later reprised in her debut with Dallas Opera. Other past operatic highlights include engagements with the Metropolitan Opera for its productions of the world premiere opera An American Tragedy and Die Walküre which toured in Japan. She made her debut at New York City Opera in 2005-06 singing Sélysette in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue which she later recorded with the BBC Symphony under the baton of Leon Botstein.  Ms. Nolen has also sung the title role in Opera Theater of Connecticut's production of Giulio Cesare, Fanny in Strauss' Intermezzo with the Sante Fe Opera, Eustazio in Handel's Rinaldo with Berkshire Opera, and Enrichetta in I Puritani and Isaura in Tancredi, both with the Caramoor Festival.  Ms. Nolen has participated in the Renata Scotto Opera Academy at the Music Conservatory of Westchester.  She will also be seen in this summer's Bel Canto at Caramoor performances of Il Trovatore.

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.

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, including the Saturday, July 21 performance of Linda di Chamounix.  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 21                           Linda di Chamounix
Saturday, 8:00 pm         by Gaetano Donizetti
Venetian Theater           Linda - Sarah Coburn, soprano
$87.50, $72.50               Pierotto - Laura Vlasak Nolen, mezzo-soprano
$57.50, $42.50              Carlo - Barry Banks, tenor
$27.50                           Antonio - Marco Nistico, baritone
                                      Marchese - Ricardo Herrera, bass-baritone
                                      Il Prefetto ? Eric Jordan, bass
                                      Caramoor Opera Chorus; Orchestra of St. Luke's 
                                      Will Crutchfield, conductor

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