Flesh & Stone

November 16, 17 & 18 @ 7:30m
Nov. 19 @ 4:00pm
The Blue Gallery
222 E 46th St, New York, NY 10017

Composed by
Matthew Recio - Statues in London
Jake Heggie - Camille Claudel: Into the Fire
Benjamin Britten - Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

Libretto by
Jenna Lanzaro - Statues in London
Gene Scheer - Camille Claudel: Into the Fire
Michelangelo - Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

*contains nudity

 

The three song cycles that comprise Flesh & Stone are united by the theme of sculpture. Statues in London, composed by Matthew Recio with poetry by Jenna Lanzaro, is scored for soprano, violin, cello, and English horn. The first two poems are from the perspectives of the Greek gods Persephone and Poseidon, respectively. The third is the speaker’s musings about the British Museum’s confiscation of the statues of those gods from the Acropolis in Greece. As Music Director Jason Wirth puts it, “Matthew Recio’s Statues in London looks at sculptures from the point of view of their mythological subjects while tackling the pressing ethical problems of appropriation in the art world today.” The second song cycle, Britten’s Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, is scored for tenor and piano with libretto provided by Michelangelo’s own poetry. The sonnets explore the relationship between artistry, love, and humanity through thought-provoking self-reflection. The foci of the sonnets range from bombastic proclamations to imaginative musings, to tender lovers’ murmurings. The end result is a three-dimensional, intimate sketch of what it is to be a human in love. The third song cycle is Heggie and Scheer’s Camille Claudel: Into the Fire, scored for mezzo soprano and string quartet. Camille Claudel (1864-1943) was a French sculptor whose primary media were marble and bronze. Although extraordinarily talented in her own right, her name is often connected with that of Rodin as his student and lover. She was gifted in portraying the human form with exceptional accuracy, so, as a woman living at that time, much of her work was censored for being too sensual. It is theorized that this criticism may have contributed to her fragile mental state and committal to an asylum, where she ultimately died. The cycle consists of six songs, each of which reveals shades of Claudel’s wandering mind on the day she is to be taken to the asylum.

CAST

Statues in London

Barbara Porto (11/16, 11/17), Kristin Renee Young (11/18, 11/19)

Camille Claudel: Into the Fire

Emily Hughes (11/17), 11/19), Anna Tonna (11/16, 11/18)

Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

Chris Carr (11/16, 11/18), Victor Khodadad (11/17, 11/19)

  • Chris Carr has performed roles at Arizona Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Austin Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, The Merola Opera Program, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Central City Opera, among others. Known as a ‘confident and energetic’ performer, he has received awards from the Met National Council Auditions, The Sullivan Foundation and CFSA’s Igor Gorin Award.

    Chris has recently performed in NYC as Canio in Pagliacci with New Camerata Opera, the title role in The Verdi Project production of Don Carlos, as well as recording a filmed version of Schumann’s Dichterliebe with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater.

  • Soprano Barbara Porto has been praised for her vocal clarity and engaging stage presence. Recently, Barbara performed the role of Harriet Beecher Stowe in Kamala Sankaram’s The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace with New Camerata Opera. Other operatic credits include Venus (John Blow’s Venus and Adonis), Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), Monica (The Medium), Oberto (Alcina), Mademoiselle Silberklang, Zerlina, Barbarina, Crobyle (Thaïs), Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito), Anna Gomez (The Consul), and Giannetta (L'Elisir d'Amore). A versatile artist, Barbara is equally committed to new music. From art song to chamber music to a one-woman show, she has performed a wide range of works with several New York City-based ensembles and organizations, including Fresh Squeezed Opera, The Curiosity Cabinet, the Composers Now Festival, and the Institute & Festival for Contemporary Performance.

  • Mezzo-Soprano Emily Hughes is thrilled to have just made her Carnegie Hall debut as the mezzo soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria in Stern Auditorium, under the baton of Nancy Menk. Other recent performances include the title role of La Cenerentola with Bel Cantanti Opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Long Island Lyric Opera, Annio in La clemenza di Tito with Bronx Opera, and Musette in Leoncavallo's La Bohème with Teatro Grattacielo, for which Opera News called her “delightful and coquettish Musette” a performance of “particular note.” Other roles include Ruggiero in Alcina, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the title role of Handel’s Teseo, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Emily has been a young artist with opera companies such as Teatro Nuovo, Opera on the James, and Charlottesville Opera. A versatile performer, Ms. Hughes has performed with early music groups such as Artek, The New York Continuo Collective, and the Amherst Early Music Festival, and she has also premiered works by many living composers, including Lingbo Ma’s The Pile at National Sawdust. www.emily-hughes.com

  • Mezzo Soprano Anna Tonna has been described as “mezzo heroine who knows how to sing Rossini” by the Rossini Gessellschaft and as “showing off her warm, secure mezzo-soprano to maximum advantage” by the New York Magazine.

    Anna's passion for and excellence in the recital genre have garnered her increasing acclaim in both the U.S. and Europe, particularly her path breaking explorations of the repertoire of composers from Spain and Latin America. Her recitals are a source of expectation in New York City, where she has performed at both the Alice Tully Hall and Rose Center of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Merkin Hall, New York’s Town Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. The same excitement greets her appearances in Spain, with performances at the Auditorio Nacional de España, Academia Marshall and the Escorial Theater in Spain.

    She has collaborated with Casals Festival of Puerto Rico, Festival Iberoamericano de las Artes in Puerto Rico, Música de Cámara of New York, El Festival de Segovia, Joy in Singing, Elysium Between Two Continents and the Nassau Music Festival among others. www.annatonna.com

  • Victor Khodadad was born in Shiraz, Iran of an Iranian father and a Cuban mother, and shortly after his birth the entire family moved to the U.S. His mother, a classically trained pianist and conductor, provided a childhood full of music and performing opportunities. Playing the role of Jesus in “Jesus Christ Superstar” at Swine Palace Productions in Baton Rouge, LA, directed by Barry Kyle, former Associate Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, was a turning point in Mr. Khodadad’s career. The fusion of music and drama prompted him to shift his focus and he began formal vocal studies with Jerome Pruett, Associate Professor of Voice at The Hartt School of Music. Upon graduating from The Hartt School in 2005, Mr. Khodadad began working regularly in regional opera companies such as Amarillo Opera, Commonwealth Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Hot Springs Music Festival, Mississippi Opera, Natchez Opera Festival, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Theater of Connecticut and Philadelphia Concert Opera. Roles include Tamino, Don Ottavio, Ferrando, Gérald, Roméo, Des Grieux, Nadir, Rodolfo, Nemorino, Alfredo, The Duke, and many others. Upcoming engagements include Emperor Altoum in Turandot with St. Petersburgh Opera. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Khodadad had formative private lessons with legendary tenor Nicolai Gedda.

  • Kristin Renee Young, soprano, is a versatile vocal artist in the worlds of opera, classical crossover, musical theater, and voiceover work. Kristin was called "fantastic" by The Toronto Star, and according to The Boston Musical Intelligencer, she is "a true artist."

    Kristin recently debuted as Lucy in a musical reimagining of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha arranged by Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth; Zerbinetta in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Barn Opera; and covered the role of Amelia Alumond in Quamino’s Map (Wallen/Brevoort) with Chicago Opera Theater. In 2021, Kristin made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as a member of the Extra Chorus in Boris Godunov and Porgy and Bess. She has made appearances at Carnegie Hall and Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, and has performed with American Lyric Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Beth Morrison Project, Center for Contemporary Opera, Encompass New Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, Harlem Opera Theater, INSeries Opera, Juventas New Music Ensemble, New York City Opera, and SongFest.

    Kristin is the Programming Director at New Camerata Opera and resides in Brooklyn, NY, where she is a certified yoga instructor.

MODEL

  • Pasqualino Beltempo was born and raised in Southern Italy, where he pursued his acting career while studying for his university degree in geology. In his home country he took on roles such as the titular character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Barnaby Tucker in Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker. He is now based in New York City where he regularly performs alongside Incanto Productions, that brings the Italian language and culture to schools in the tristate area with educational musicals, and the Xavier Company, that tells New Testament stories through song and dance. His main regional credits include: Tito in Lend Me A Tenor, Zangara in Assassins, Pablo in Sister Act, Bernardo in West Side Story, Gomez in The Addams Family, Al in A Chorus Line and Magaldi in Evita. He toured the United States as Carlos/Lowell in the Legally Blonde the Musical 2019 national tour. He can be seen on Amazon Prime and AppleTV on ThealityTV a reality show about the making of a new musical in New York City. When he’s not performing he works as a figure model for many distinguished New York City art institutions. He also is a recording artist, his collection of original songs Mediocre Excellence can be found on all streaming platforms both in English and Italian.

 

ORCHESTRA

Glenna Cureton – Violin
Chloe Kim – Violin
Luke Quintanilla – Viola
Maureen Kelly – Cello
John Frisch – English Horn

CREATIVE TEAM

Director – John de los Santos
Music Director – Jason Wirth
JoshBob Rose – Lighting Designer
Holly Thomas – Stage Manager
Peiwen Chen – Rehearsal Pianist
Angela Huff – Costume Consultant

  • John de los Santos’s productions include Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun (world premiere, Santa Fe Opera), Ghosts (world premiere, San Diego Opera), Don Giovanni (Wolt Trap Opera), Le Comte Ory (Loft Opera), L'heure Espagnol (New Camerata Opera), La Fille du Régiment (Minnesota Opera), Frida (Opera Southwest), and Maria de Buenos Aires (Arizona Opera). In 2015, he choreographed the world premieres of Great Scott for the Dallas Opera and Before Night Falls for Fort Worth Opera. As a librettist John’s first collaboration with composer Clint Borzoni, When Adonis Calls, had its premiere under his direction at Asheville Lyric Opera. His second collaboration with Borzoni, The Copper Queen, premiered as a feature film in 2021. The Christmas Spider, his third libretto with Borzoni, will premiere in December of 2023. His commission by Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, with composer Christopher Weiss, Service Provider, premiered at the Kennedy Center and has since had over a dozen productions. In 2020, John and Marc Migó were commissioned by UrbanArias to write an operatic film for the Decameron Opera Project. Their piece, The Roost, 20 was directed by John and was recently included in the archives of the Library of Congress. He is currently a librettist with Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative. johndelossantos.com

  • "An impressive musician in his own right," as well as "one of the finest collaborative pianists I have heard" (NY Concert Review), Jason has made recent appearances at Carnegie Hall and Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, as well as solos with the Moscow Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Jason's recording of Poulenc's The Story of Babar with film star Michael Douglas has been released on Naxos, and he worked as a pianist and coach with the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Arizona Opera, and the American Lyric Theatre, among many others. As a music director he has led Verdi's Rigoletto and Floyd’s Susannah with Lighthouse Opera, as well as Menotti’s The Medium and Amahl and the Night Visitors, Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd, and Kurt Weill's Street Scene with The Modern Opera Company in New York City. An alum of Mannes School of Music and Yale School of Music, Jason currently lives and works in New York City with his husband Joel and their cat Maude.

  • Joshua Rose is Co-Artistic Director for Theatre 4the People. He is a production designer (lighting, scenery, projections) for live entertainment, spanning theater, opera, dance, concerts, and night life. With well over 500 credits over the past 22 years, and around the world. Joshua is driven by the collaborative process, especially in bringing to audiences, new works by living artists.

    Theatre4thepeople.org

  • Holly (she/her) has been working as a Stage Manager in New York City for 6 years. Some stage management credits include The Medium (Rutgers University), Cav+Pag (New Camerata Opera), The Magic Flute (Prelude Opera), Queen E: The Reluctant Royal (reading, New York Musical Festival). Holly graduated with a BA from The King's College in 2019.

  • Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Ms. Chen graduated from the National Academy of Art with highest honors in 1990, where she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

    In 1992, she entered Mannes College of Music, where in 1994 she performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on the theme of Paganini under the baton of Maestro Michael Charry. Shortly after her graduation from Mannes with a special piano award,

    Ms. Chen made her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall as a winner of the 1995 New York Concert Artists Competition. Frequently performing as a piano due with her husband Alexander Paley, Ms. Chen performs annually as part of the Alexander Paley Music Festival in Richmond, Virginia, as well as Moulin d’Ande, France.

    In December 2001, Ms. Chen made her Paris debut playing Liszt’s Concerto Pathetique for two pianos in Salle O. Messiaen, Maison de Radio France. Following in 2003, she performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade in the composer’s own one piano, four hands version, which was broadcast live worldwide from Seattle, USA on kings.org. In March 2004, Ms. Chen performed both Mozart and Mendelssohn Piano Concertos for two pianos with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius, Lithuania.In the summer of 2009, Ms. Chen returned to Taiwan and gave a gala concert in the National Concert Hall in Taipei to benefit young musicians there. In 2011, she performed Mozart Concertos for two and three pianos in Klaipeda, Lithuania.

    As a collaborative artist, Ms. Chen has worked with artists including Licia Abanese, Elly Ameling, Regina Resnik, Jon Vickers, Evelyn Lear, Diane Soviero, Deborah Voigt, Ruth Falcon, Mignon Dunn, Sherril Milnes, and Olga Peretyako, among others. In 1998, she joined the production of Fedora for Washington Opera. In addition, Ms. Chen served as a pianist for the Metropolitan Opera Guild as well as Amato Opera,New York Lyric Opera Theatre ,Regina Opera in NYC for many seasons.

    She has been a member of the music faculty for IVAI in both Virginia and NYC, CVAI in Canada, as well as a faculty member for VOICExperience in Florida, CoOperative at Rider University and Savannah Voice Festival .

    Highlights of Ms. Chen’s past engagements include concerts in Washington, D.C. as well as in Virginia and Maine, piano duo concerts in France, and Bach Concerti in Lithuania. Additionally, she has served as coach and conductor for operas including Der Schauspieldirektor by Mozart, The Telephone by Menotti, Incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi, and Alcina and Ariodante by Handel in concert version with New York Lyric Opera ;Czerny piano Concerto for one piano, four hands in Modolva and complete Rachmaninoff music for two pianos in France. In the spring of 2017, Ms. Chen was the official pianist of the Classical Singers Magazine Competition in Shanghai.In 2020,Ms Chen served as a jury member for many international online voice competitions in Russia,China and US.

    Since 2021,Ms.Chen has joined New Camerata Opera in New York City for their productions both in operas and concerts.In spring,2022,Ms Chen played a series of concerts in the project of complete Brahms chamber music for piano duets,including Brahms liebeslieder waltzs and Neue liebeslieder walzes with the soloists from the Lithuanian State Opera in Vilnius.In April 2022,Ms Chen premiered “Hommage a Rachmaninoff für 2 Klaviere“ with husband Alexander Paley by reknown German composer Thomas Böttger in France.In August 2022,Ms Chen joined the Savannah Voice Festival in the production of Menotti’s Medium.

    Ms Chen has recorded complete Saint-Saens symphonies in the version for piano duo in season 2022-23 which will be soon released.In addition,she has served as a rehearsal pianist for productions like Ravel’s “L’Heure Espangnole” ,Lili Boulanger’s” Faust et Helene” ,Mozart’s “Don Giovanni “ during the season.

    Ms Chen is a member of faculty at Mannes college of Music and Cali School at Montclair University.

 


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Flesh and Stone was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.