Caramoor International Music Festival

[femmina]

Bel Canto at Caramoor to Offer Kizart in Rohan and Meade as Norma
By PlaybillArts Staff


Angela Meade


Details and schedules for the 65th Caramoor International Music Festival have been released. Out of the eclectic offerings, opera fans look most forward to the 14th year of Bel Canto at Caramoor- which this season will consist of Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan and Angela Meade starring in Bellini's Norma.



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The complete lineup for the 65th Caramoor International Music Festival - held annually at the Center’s distinguished 90-acre garden estate in Katonah, New York - has been announced. 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 pop 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 operas, 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 200 and bass-baritone Daniel Mobbs (“a showstopper” in Semiramide) complete the cast.
Some ten years after the premiere of Norma, the diagnosis of a fatal illness led Gaetano Donizetti in a fascinating new artistic direction for his final operas. Maria di Rohan, a brilliant, fast-paced tragedy set in the Paris of Richelieu, is perhaps the tautest and most 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 mainstage debut as Maria’s husband, the Duke of Chevreuse.
PROGRAMS
Saturday, July 10 at 8:00pm – Venetian Theater
Friday, July 16 at 8:00 pm – Venetian Theater
NORMA by Vincenzo Bellini
Will Crutchfield, conductor
Orchestra of St. Luke's
ANGELA MEADE, soprano (Norma)
KERI ALKEMA, mezzo-soprano (Adalgisa)
EMMANUEL DI VILLAROSA, tenor (Pollione)
DANIEL MOBBS, bass-baritone (Oroveso)
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.
3:30 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
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Saturday, July 24 at 8:00pm – Venetian Theater
MARIA DI ROHAN by Gaetano Donizetti
Will Crutchfield, conductor
Orchestra of St. Luke's
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 Gond&#236
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.
3:30 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 mainstage 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.
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TICKETS
Tickets for Bel Canto at Caramoor productions, as well as all other performances in the 2010 Caramoor International Music Festival, are on sale. Tickets may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 914.232.1252 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, or online at caramoor.org.


Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home – now 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 showcase his vast collection and 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 often described as “a Garden of Great Music” where audiences are invited to come early, explore the beautiful grounds, take a tour of the Rosen House, visit the gift shop, 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.
For full Festival information, visit Caramoor.

[femmina]

PHOTO RECAP: A Smooth Journey to a Dazzling Norma

By Alexandra Zalska
20 Jul 2010

Keri Alkema and Agela Meade photo by Gabe Palacio

The 2010 “Bel Canto at Caramoor” series started with a bang, offering two performances of Bellini's masterwork Norma. Alexandra Zalska, who was on hand for the July 16 offering, reports on the work and weighs in on the unique "Caramoor experience."


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The summer is traditionally a dry time for opera here in the NYC area with there being fewer performances per week than during the fall to spring season. We are indeed fortunate that the Caramoor Music Festival in Katonah, NY (a mere hour’s journey outside of the city) has their “Bel Canto at Caramoor” program with first class offerings of seldom performed and standard works to tempt opera “fanatics” as well as newcomers to the art form.
Operagoers have rare opportunities to see both established singers in roles they almost never perform as well as newer singers at the start of brilliant careers as well as here the results of scholarly research in the form of score revisions.
THE SETUP

Performances of Bellini’s masterwork, Norma, are rare enough during any regular opera season. This summer, Bel Canto at Caramoor offered two performances of the opera, July 10th and 16th, with the latest sensation, Angela Meade in the title role. Aside from the importance of the repertoire offered it is one of the few opportunities to hear this singer locally as she will only be covering Armida at the Met this season.
I was one of the unfortunates unable to attend the July 10th performance and paid dearly all week cringing in regret as it seemed the whole city was a buzz of non-stop superlatives everywhere I went. While waiting for a Broadway show to begin one evening I heard a nearby audience member recounting the opera evening in glowing terms to a friend. Just then the Broadway show’s flautist began to warm-up with the introduction to “Casta Diva”. Norma was inescapable! I made it my business to be at the July 16th outing.
THE TRIP

My Caramoor experience started at Grand Central Station a few minutes before the “Caravan” was set to depart. While there is public transportation to the venue (a train to Katonah, NY and five minute cab ride), Caramoor most considerately offers to their opera attendees a direct coach service.

Arriving almost melted on the pavement, parched and fearful of missing the departure I was greeted by an enthusiatic, articulate and just-plain-nice young staffer who immediately put me at ease as she checked me in. She assured me that there would be time to run into the Grand Central Market to get a quick bottle of water as they would wait for those who had yet to arrive due to Friday traffic delays. I was advised not to worry. She would check to make sure they did not leave without me. Small demonstrations of kindness become big and are most appreciated on a sweltering day. We departed after 15 minutes, comfortable in not a mere bus but a lovely long distance style coach shielded from the heat and impossible noise of the rush hour traffic outside. Had I not looked, I never would have noticed the traffic at all. There was just the cool and comfort inside with the happy chatter of opera lovers and the teasing aroma of someone’s hot roast chicken dinner as we made out way to the green of Westchester County.
The warmth and enthusiasm I experienced at the outset never flagged. Upon arrival I was given all necessary information, being guided almost by the hand so that I found my way everywhere with ease. Ticket pick-up was a breeze. There is a cheerful concession stand offering quite lovely sandwiches and beverages. Ushers, rather than merely handing out programs, directed us in a motherly fashion towards our seats. Though we arrived a bit late due to traffic there was still time to enjoy a pre-concert lecture. I felt “set up” in the most positive of ways. Caramoor is not just about the performance but the total experience of generosity of spirit, stunning natural beauty as well as the communal musical event.
THE DELIVERY

Bellini’s music in this opera never fails to move, sometimes more than others depending on the gifts of the performers and the conductor on the podium. There has been much heated discussion of singers, their capabilities and how wonderful or terrible they are in these make-or-break roles. I relish the diversity of artists who have done these roles. Each had something unique to offer though some appeal more to my personal taste. My basic requirement is that the drama be given beauty, substance and form. Singers are fundamentally storytellers. The job requires a trained instrument and technique as well as musicality and dramatic vision. Take me to another world. While I notice the technically odd bits and pieces that inevitably show up they are not my main focus.
That being said, this Norma left me with my jaw dropped. Thanks to the leadership as of conductor Will Crutchfield the drama commenced on the first note. Takeoff!
There was a commitment and unity of purpose on the part of everyone on the stage down to the double bass players who I noticed played with an enthusiasm I have only seen thus far in rock bands. An integral part of the picture is the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. The dramatic tension continued through the evening despite the constant and necessary stops for applause and the occasional slight tiring of the artists. Angela Meade was in character from the first moment she stepped foot onstage. Her “Casta Diva” left me breathless and I remained so. There is so much there in so young a Norma. I found all superlatives heard during the previous week to be more than justified. From the comments I heard during the intermission she was even better this week than last, more confident and at greater ease as were the other artists.
Keri Alkema applauded in her recent performances in City Opera’s Don Giovanni was the innocent and tortured Adalgisa, both vocally and dramatically a wonderful contrast to the enraged and abandoned Norma. The duets of the two women were a joy with their sheer vocal beauty as well as theatricality. Emmanual di Villarosa, despite an ailment, sang Pollione with vocal intelligence, clear dramatic intention and connection to his fellow singers. Daniel Mobbs was a fatherly Oroveso further adding to and rounding out the principal’s story of political, religious and personal conflict.
Sharin Apostolou turned the Clotilde into more than just a small role giving here shape and a life as a confidante. Brian Landry is vocally larger than Flavio yet he played his part with artistry and balance never poking holes in the fabric created by the composer for this role but rather creating a well rounded character in his proper place in the drama. He is one whose further path I will watch with great interest. The chorus is made up of the members of the apprenticeship program, young singers in the early stages of career. All receive the benefit of coaching work with Maestro Crutchfield.
The work was semi-staged with no insignificant movement. Though in concert form I never missed sets or costumes, the space being filled by the dramatic completeness and truth coupled with stunning vocal and musical beauty.
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Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan is next on the opera calendar. I am running to attend and suggest that anyone with the opportunity do the same. I thank Caramoor, its staff and the artists for this first-rate experience and look forward to this Saturday.
Visit Caramoor for info and tickets, priced $20-$85.


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All photos by Gabe Palacio.

[femmina]

RECAP: Jennifer Rowley Scores as Maria di Rohan at Caramoor

By Alexandra Zalska
30 Jul 2010

Jennifer Rowley, photo by Devon Cass


Having attended the previous week's Norma, Alexandra Zalska headed back to Caramoor for the final Bel Canto offering of the summer: Donizetti's rarely-heard Maria di Rohan. She shares her experience and weighs in on the evening's performance.


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It was with great pleasure, a week after Caramoor’s stunning second Norma, that I re-boarded the wonderful “Caravan” at Grand Central Station again attended by the welcoming Alison with her colleague Alexis. I found the consideration and kindness shown on my first trip not to be the exception but rather the norm with these wonderful young people and a true remedy for the oppressive heat and humidity of the day.
Again, one bus was held to wait for delayed guests. No person gets left behind if it can be at all helped. Not only does Caramoor provide the transportation, they wait for you to get there! I settled in for a deliciously comfy ride in the cool and quiet, ipod attached, and promptly napped until our arrival a little more than an hour later in the midst of familiar, soothing green.
I was anxiously anticipating this Maria di Rohan which, for me, was a “Do not miss” occasion. The opera is very rarely done, any opportunity to hear it, fortunate. It is one of the last works Donizetti composed before showing obvious symptoms of his debilitating and ultimately fatal illness. How truly well or ill was he when he composed the work? How did his physical state affect the ultimate output? There are things we will never know but about which I had wondered. Having heard four different recordings with major singers, I knew though that the music is incredibly beautiful and the product of a master.
As the work had undergone various revisions by the composer to meet the requirements of different theaters, singers and his own creativity I was most interested in hearing in performance the results of what I knew would be intense study on the part of Maestro Crutchfield. Add in the fact that the day before the performance, it was announced that the scheduled soprano, Tekesha Meshe Kizart, about whom I had heard so much, had taken ill and would not sing and that her cover, Jennifer Rowley would go on instead. That kind of situation always generates curiosity and excitement.
As part of its mission that “enriches the lives of its audiences through diverse musical performances of the highest quality, mentors young professional musicians, and engages young children through interactive, educational experiences that deepens their relationship to and understanding of music”, Caramoor offers the operagoer more than just a rare, interesting performance.
For this event, activity began at 3PM in the Spanish Courtyard with four additional presentations. First, scholar Philip Gossett and Maestro Will Crutchfield discussed the life of Maria di Rohan in “The Genesis of a Masterpiece”. I did not know, for example, that a previously unknown version of one of the lead roles had been found just last year in Russia.
At 4:15, “Maria Plus”, a concert of alternative music that would not be heard in the evening’s main-stage production, was given by the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artists. At 5:00 “Donizetti, Stage, Salon and Chapel”, presented again by the Young Artists, gave us a better idea of breadth of this prolific composer’s late period work through songs, chamber music, operatic scenes and chapel choral pieces. “Hauntingly beautiful” doesn’t begin to describe experiencing this music in the unique atmosphere of the Spanish Courtyard.
At 7:00 Philip Gossett gave an introduction to the opera itself, including, for the benefit of those who could not be present earlier, some of the information from the 3 o’clock discussion. There was a dinner hour before the last presentation with many taking advantage of the marvelous available picnic opportunities. My dinnertime exploration of the grounds with its nooks and crannies, gardens of differing styles and peaceful wooded walks was worth the effort. At 8:00 I arrived at the Venetian theater primed.
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Maria di Rohan premiered in 1843, is based on the 1832 play “A Duel Under Cardinal Richelieu” by Lockroy and Baldon with the 1837 libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, known for his many libretti, among them Lucia di Lammermoor and Il Trovatore.
At the core if this drama is romantic love tragically foiled by slavery to duty, a misplaced sense of honor and the convention of resolving insult by duel, that also being deemed a capital offense by the Cardinal Richelieu. The subject matter and interweaving of circumstances engaged Donizetti and the opera was composed and orchestrated very quickly in late 1842 and early 1843.
Maria (Soprano) is loved by two men, one whom she loved and who still pines for her and the other to whom she is secretly and reluctantly, but obediently, married. The lover, Riccardo the Count of Chalais (Tenor) saves the husband, Enrico Count of Chevreuse (Baritone) from execution, not knowing of the marriage. The husband in gratitude acts as the lover’s second in a duel with court dandy Armando di Gondi (Mezzosoprano), unaware that he is betrayed.
Poor Maria is in the end reviled by her husband and her lover, dead by suicide. Though the power and presence of the Cardinal Richelieu permeate and move the work he is always an offstage character as are the King and Queen of France and the ill mother of Chalais.
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Caramoor was not immune to the excessive heat and humidity of the day yet Maestro Crutchfield and his forces gave a total performance truly bringing Donizetti’s characters and their story to life. Jennifer Rowley, a member of the Bel Canto Young Artist’s Program, and the cover, sang with only one rehearsal and deserved every bit of applause received and more for her exceptional and very moving work. Her voice is large and luscious, a truly important instrument wedded to wonderful interpretive powers. She is on the road to a great career with major debuts coming up.
Brazilian Luciano de Botelho is a “tenore di grazia” singing in important theaters with major debuts coming as well. He gave the role of Riccardo, Count of Chalais a grace and elegant expression of an honest lover’s ardor and despair. Baritone Scott Bearden vocally and with acting skill created a wonderful, piercing Chevreuse, a loving man betrayed, then vengeful. Mezzo Vanessa Cariddi, who has already debuted at the Met and City Opera was a luxury in the role of the dandy Gondi. These are all artists I look forward to seeing and hearing again.
With Will Crutchfield and the enthusiastic Orchestra of St. Luke’s they worked as a team maintaining the tension throughout, never skimping on the considerable requirements of the score’s abundant and demanding vocal fireworks, throwing themselves into the drama with moving generosity for the benefit of the public, despite the stifling weather. Though an opera in concert form, I did not miss sets and costumes the semi-staging being performed with skill, precision and elegant economy giving the story the necessary shape.
It was a privilege to be present. Bravi tutti!
I sincerely hope this work will be more frequently performed in future. In the meantime, I recommend an internet browse as there are available recordings that merit the attention of even casual opera listeners. If you have yet to get to Bel Canto at Caramoor treat yourself next summer. You will be glad you did.
Having started with the opera I intend to sample the other musical events offered throughout the year at this treasure of a venue. Thanks again, Caramoor!


photo by Gabe Palacio