On Saturday afternoon, August 2, the festival will present a working production of Clarimonde, a new opera still in development by French composer Frederic Chaslin and librettist P. H. Fisher. The two previously collaborated on the well-received Wuthering Heights; sections of Clarimonde have been performed or recorded in Norway, Italy, Israel and Russia. The piece, which features four singers and is directed by Eric Einhorn, is based on Theophile Gautier’s La Morte Amoureuse, a supernatural tale, of the type that was popular during the Romantic movement of the early 19th century, concerning a handsome priest’s love affair with a beautiful vampiress. As it happens, she is not the stereotypical bloodthirsty villainess, but rather an alluring courtesan who believes that the priest’s love – as well as his pure priestly blood – will redeem her from the state of eternal doom imposed on her by her master, called the Maker.
Soprano Alyson Cambridge, who plays the vampiress, has received accolades for her performances at the Met, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and other leading opera companies from the national press, while tenor Dominic Armstrong, who plays the priest, won the 2013 George London Foundation Vocal Competition. Bass/baritone Clayton Mathews, as the Maker, and Phoenicia’s own Louis Otey, who plays a bishop, round out the cast.
Chaslin “is a huge star,” said Todaro-Otey. His visit to Israel yielded a recording of an Israeli choral group, which will be used in the performance. Director Einhorn founded On Site Opera, which has performed operas in such unconventional venues as the Bronx Zoo, Harlem’s Cotton Club and Madame Tussaud’s waxworks in New York City. On Site Opera collaborated with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice in this production: It hired most of the artists and helped with the financing, in exchange for housing. Such creative partnerships enable “grassroots organizations like ours” to survive in the face of a trend in which opera companies are folding, said Todaro-Otey. A question-and-answer session with the conductor and stars will follow the performance.
On the evening of August 2, a semi-staged production of Rossini’s opera buffa masterpiece, The Barber of Seville, will be performed on the main stage, with Lucas Meachem playing Figaro. Meachem is an emerging star, who flies the next day to London to play the role at Covent Garden. Kevin Glavin plays Bartolo, the doctor, while Korean star Hak Soo Kim plays the count. David Wroe, formerly of the New York City Opera, is staging the production, and Todaro-Otey herself is singing Rosina, the rich girl in the doctor’s house. Considering her other considerable responsibilities in putting on the festival, “It’s stupid, but I love the role the most of any and couldn’t resist,” Todaro-Otey said.
The festival will also present a noteworthy world premiere: Carey Harrison’s new play, The Seven Favorite Maladies of Ludwig van Beethoven, a tribute to the composer’s hypochondria and his relationship with his doctor, described in seven movements, as his deafness engulfs him. Pianist Justin Kolb will play Beethoven, while Harrison will perform the role of the doctor. The hourlong production will be performed on August 1, 2 and 3 in the Shandaken Playhouse.
Storytelling for children, lectures by festival participants on related topics, a free master class by Met opera singer Anthony Laciura, a presentation of the art of the cantor by Jack Mendelson, a free “Shape Note” workshop in which people who can’t read music learn a new, quick technique that enables them to join in the singing and a gospel celebration at the Wesleyan Church by Lisa Daltrius and Lawrence Craig on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. round out the festival.
Tickets to The Barber of Seville cost $25 ($5 for kids under age 18): a tenth of the price that they would cost at the Met. General admission tickets to the main stage events cost $25, $55 VIP; some events cost less, at $15 per person. A pass to all six main stage performances costs $280. While several of the smaller venues typically sell out, there is always plenty of space at the main stage, so for many performances you can simply show up.
Todaro-Otey’s commitment to making vocal music more accessible to the public doesn’t end with the festival. Five years ago, she started a community choir in Phoenicia. More than a simple diversion, “It’s a community binder,” she said. “Singing together has been lost in Western culture, but in other cultures people still sing together while sitting around the fire.” It’s a healing activity “that’s good for peace,” she said, referencing a book written in the Renaissance about an Italian village in the Middle Ages whose 69 choirs, serving the Muslim, Catholic and Jewish inhabitants, were responsible for keeping peace in the community while war raged elsewhere.
She started a second choir in Woodstock two years ago; both music groups meet once a week, and combined they attract 60 to 80 people. (Someone else started a third community choir in Margaretville, which also meets weekly.) “There’s no audition and it’s free,” she said. “It’s my way of saying ‘Thank you, God’ for everything I have.”
Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, July 30-August 3, $15-$55, (845) 586-3588, www.phoeniciavoicefest.org.
