The Caramoor Summer Music Festival is a music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a former estate near Katonah, New York United States, approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. Today it serves as a live music venue for symphonic, opera, chamber, American roots, a ...

, which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,603 at the 2020 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, ...

. The Caramoor estate became a centre for the arts and music following the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

death of the son of its owners, Walter and Lucie Rosen. The couple donated the property in their son's memory, and it quickly became an established summer festival. Performances are given in the Spanish Courtyard of the house and in the 1,700-seat Venetian Theater, a tented facility on the grounds. The Music Room in the house is also used for year-round concerts. For the past twenty years, the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

focus has been ''Bel Canto at Caramoor'', with explorations of the ''

bel canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

'' repertoire under the direction of the conductor, Will Crutchfield. Semi-staged performances of such rarities (for the New York area) as

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' and

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

's '' Elisabetta'' (the manuscript of which was discovered and then reconstructed by Crutchfield). Other innovative approaches to ''bel canto'' have resulted in 2005 productions of ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (; ''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'' where the tenor's role was sung in the original keys and a '' La traviata'' where the majority of the standard cuts were restored. The Caramoor Summer Music Festival also features a wide variety of music beyond Bel Canto Opera. Included are concerts by the Orchestra of St. Luke's, string quartets, various soloists, and a day-long jazz and roots festival. Caramoor also features a composer in residence, with such composers as

John Musto John Musto (born 1954) is an American composer and pianist. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orches ...

(2006) and

Paquito D'Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

(2007) holding the post. The Orchestra of St Luke's is the orchestra in residence under conductor

Donald Runnicles Sir Donald Cameron Runnicles (born 16 November 1954) is a Scottish conductor, known for his Romantic symphonic and operatic repertoire, especially Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner. With a career that has spanned ...

of the

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

. Former music directors have included

Julius Rudel Julius Rudel (6 March 1921 – 26 June 2014) was an Austrian-born American opera and orchestra conductor. He was born in Vienna and was a student at the city's Academy of Music. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1938 after th ...

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

, and Michael Barrett.

References

* Waleson, Heidi, "Tradition with a twist", ''Opera Now'', January/February 2006

External links

* {{coord, 41.242786, -73.645968, type:event_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Opera festivals in the United States Music festivals in New York (state) Classical music festivals in the United States 1945 establishments in New York (state) Culture of Westchester County, New York Music festivals established in 1945 Tourist attractions in Westchester County, New York

See also

References

External links