Bel Canto (‘beautiful singing’) tradition thrives here.
Dramatic performances. Recitals. Conversations. Immerse yourself in opera for a day or a weekend.
Let yourself be moved.
Of all the operatic works restored to life in our age of revivals, the most extensive and enduring group has been the products of the bel canto school – Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, and the young Giuseppe Verdi. Between 1808 and 1850 these masters produced some 125 works of musical theater in a style that made Italian opera the world’s most popular art form. Later, the shifting winds of taste swept all but about ten of these operas from regular use. But beginning with the spectacular example of Maria Callas, and continuing through Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, and Beverly Sills, exciting artists have rediscovered the lapsed skills of bel canto singing and revealed dozens of masterpieces anew to modern audiences. In 1997, following the success of a Caramoor production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola that introduced Vivica Genaux to New York, we decided to establish a formal concentration on bel canto opera, and Bel Canto at Caramoor was born.
– Kathy Schuman, Vice President, Artistic Programming & Executive Producer
View the 2017 Opera Press Release
