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Cosi fan tutte Last Chance Princeton

Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” is a farce with humanity. You have one more chance to see it at The Princeton Festival. The opera concludes its run at the performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St. (Route 206), on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Did you know that originally Antonio Salieri took a crack at composing it? In 1994, two fragments in Salieri’s hand were discovered in the Austrian National Library. That was before Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto was taken up by “the creature.”

Of course, Mozart had an “in,” as he had already collaborated with Da Ponte on “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni.” And anyway, with all respect to Signor Salieri, the subject matter seems much more in line with Mozart’s saucy sensibility. While the Viennese of 1790 were worldly folk, “Cosi” would be given the side-eye in the 19th century, when the opera was deemed risqué or even immoral. If it was done at all, it was presented with tasteful alterations. It was only in the 20th century that the work’s reputation was restored.

Yeah, the characters are knuckleheads – flawed, irrational, and stupid – but they are also capable of great beauty. It’s all right there in the title, often translated, if anyone bothers, as “So Do They All.”

The festival’s final week will continue to embrace a variety of genres. A Juneteenth celebration will culminate in a concert of Black choral music, sung by the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, at the pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” Earlier, there will be a flag raising ceremony, food, reflection, and fun. For details, visit the festival website at the link below.

On Thursday at 7 p.m., The Sebastians will return for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, along with works by Telemann and Vivaldi. That concert will be held across the street at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).

On Friday at 7 p.m., back at the pavilion, the Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will unpack its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon.

Finally, on Saturday at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to an uplifting conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.

For tickets and information about parking, concessions, and more, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Video samples:

Behind the scenes of “Cosi fan tutte”

The Sebastians perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6

Empire Wild in 5 minutes

Santino Fontana

June 17, 2024
Così fan tutte at Princeton Festival

A wager on the inconstancy of young love leads to farcical complications in Mozart’s “Così fan tutte.” The title has always been as uncomfortable to translate as the comic anguish endured by its leads. Variously known in English (if at all) as “So Do They All” and “Women Are Like That,” it’s probably best to stick with the Italian. Whatever you call it, it is generally bracketed in the composer’s top-four operas. Unsurprisingly the libretti for three of them were quilled by the flamboyant Lorenzo da Ponte, poet, priest, and profligate, friend of Casanova, and eventually professor of Italian literature at Columbia University.

The opera forms the centerpiece of this year’s The Princeton Festival. You’ll have three chances to see it, on Friday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., and Tuesday at 7 p.m. Performances will be held outdoors in the open-flapped, state-of-the-art performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, at 55 Stockton St. (Route 206).

The stage direction is by James Marvel, who, with a game cast and scenic design by Blair Mielnik, ensured last year’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” was such an imaginative romp. This year, the team promises a fresh, contemporary take on “Così,” setting it in a pastel-colored dreamhouse villa, high above the glamorous Amalfi Coast. Attired by costume designer Maria Miller, the high-styled, jet-setting characters’ loyalty to one another is tested as the plot – and hilarity – unfolds.

The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by its music director, Rossen Milanov.

Two pre-performance talks, “Not So Cozy Così,” with Julian Grant (on Friday), and “Exploring Così fan tutte,” with Timothy Urban (on Tuesday), will be offered at Morven’s Stockton Education Center at 5:30 p.m.

Also coming up: the Abeo Quartet will perform chamber music by Reena Esmail, Shostakovich, and Schubert, tomorrow, Thursday, at 7 p.m., across the road at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).

American Repertory Ballet will bring dance to the pavilion, with choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey, and Milanov conducting members of the PSO in music by Philip Glass (“Quartetsatz”), Miranda Scripp (“Intrare Forma”), Jean Sibelius (“Impromptu for Strings”), and Edvard Grieg (the “Holberg Suite”), on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, June 19, will be a big day, with a program of Black choral music, featuring the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, providing the capstone to a Juneteenth celebration. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” The concert will be held at the performance pavilion at 7 p.m.

A Juneteenth flag raising ceremony will take place next door, at the Municipality of Princeton, at 1 p.m. The festival will continue at Morven at 4 p.m., with plenty of food, reflection, and fun, leading up to the choral concert.

On Thursday, June 20, The Sebastians will return to Trinity Church Princeton for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos offered, cheek-by-jowl, with works by Telemann and Vivaldi.

The Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will electrify the pavilion with its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon, on Friday, June 21, at 7 p.m.

Finally, on Saturday, June 22, at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to a lively conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.

For additional events, like Yoga in the Garden and the Juneteenth oral history project, as well as information on tickets, parking, and concessions, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: “Così fan tutte,” American Repertory Ballet, Empire Wild, and Santino Fontana

June 12, 2024
Princeton Festival Opening Weekend Guide

Couldn’t be nicer weather in the forecast for the opening weekend of The Princeton Festival.

Tonight at 8:00, radiant soprano Angel Blue will perform arias by Puccini, Verdi, and Gershwin, with music director Rossen Milanov conducting the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in orchestral works by Puccini, Dvořák, Delius, and zarzuela master Ruperto Chapí.

Tomorrow night at 7:00, Broadway star and “American Idol” finalist LaKisha Jones will be a part of a pavilion-rocking Tina Turner tribute show.

Sunday at 4:00, Sonia De Los Santos and her band will be the main attraction of a festival Family Day. Gates open at 1:30 for free, kid-friendly activities, including an instrument petting zoo, musical crafts, and a large toe-tap piano.

73 degrees and clear at 8:00 this evening, for opening night with soprano Angel Blue;

77 degrees and clear tomorrow evening at 7:00, for the Tina Turner tribute concert;

78 degrees and partly cloudy on Sunday afternoon at 4:00, for Sonia De Los Santos. 75 degrees at 1:30 for the start of Family Day.

All three concerts will be held in the performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden at 55 Stockton St. (Route 206).

The fun will continue through June 22, including music in a wide variety of genres, with three fully-staged performances of Mozart’s comic opera “Cosi fan tutte” (June 14, 16 & 18).

Also on the way: chamber music by Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Reena Esmail (with the Abeo Quartet, June 13), dance with American Repertory Ballet (choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Raine; music by Philip Glass, Edvard Grieg, Miranda Scripp, and Jean Sibelius, June 15), Black choral music (with the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, directed by Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, Jr., June 19), Baroque favorites, including a selection of “Brandenburg Concertos” (with the ensemble The Sebastians, June 20), genre-bending classical crossover (with the trio Empire Wild, June 21), and cabaret (with Tony Award winning artist – for his tour de force performance in Broadway’s “Tootsie” – Santino Fontana, June 22).

Concerts featuring the Abeo Quartet and The Sebastians will be held across the road at Trinity Church Princeton (technically 33 Mercer St.).

For more information about parking and concessions and additional events, including pre-performance talks, the Juneteenth celebration, and Yoga in the Garden, visit the festival website at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

June 7, 2024
Angel Blue Kicks Off Princeton Festival 2024

Last season, when soprano Pretty Yende had to cancel her appearances with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra due to illness, Angel Blue stepped up at the eleventh hour to deliver possibly the finest “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” I have ever heard. With the audience in the palm of her hand, she went on to sustain the spell with a selection of gorgeously-rendered operatic arias, the capstone being an impromptu duet on Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” with a music student she invited to join her onstage. It was a memorable weekend of performances that sent everyone into the winter nights aglow with warm fuzzies.

This week, Princeton will have another chance to experience Blue’s enchantment when she returns for opening night of The Princeton Festival, this Friday at 8 p.m.

On the program will be arias by Puccini, Verdi, and Gershwin, with music director Rossen Milanov conducting the PSO in additional orchestral works by Puccini, Dvořák, Delius, and zarzuela master Ruperto Chapí.

The festival, continuing through June 22, will include concerts that embrace a wide variety of genres. As always, the centerpiece will be opera, with this year three fully-staged performances of Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” (June 14, 16 & 18).

But there will also be a Tina Turner tribute show (including Broadway star and “American Idol” finalist LaKisha Jones, June 8 ), a Latin American family program (with Sonia De Los Santos and her band, June 9), chamber music by Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Reena Esmail (with the Abeo Quartet, June 13), dance with American Repertory Ballet (with choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Raine and music by Philip Glass, Grieg, Miranda Scripp, and Sibelius, June 15), Black choral music (with Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, directed by Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, Jr., June 19), Baroque favorites, including a selection of “Brandenburg Concertos” (with the ensemble The Sebastians, June 20), genre-bending classical crossover (with the trio Empire Wild, June 21), and cabaret (with Tony Award winning artist, for his tour de force performance in Broadway’s “Tootsie,” Santino Fontana, June 22).

Most of the concerts, including opening night with Angel Blue, will be presented in the performance pavilion on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden at 55 Stockton St. (a.k.a. Route 202). Concerts featuring the Abeo Quartet and The Sebastians will be held across the road at Trinity Church Princeton (technically 33 Mercer St.).

For more information and additional events, including pre-performance talks, the Juneteenth celebration, an art exhibit opening, and Yoga in the Garden, visit the festival website at princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Clockwise from upper left: Angel Blue, Sonia De Los Santos, Santino Fontana, and Empire Wild

June 4, 2024
Princeton Festival Highlights & Juneteenth Celebration

Are we having fun yet?

I hope you’ve managed to catch some of the live performances at this year’s The Princeton Festival.

So far, we’ve had opportunities to enjoy chamber and instrumental music, contemporary dance, an Aretha Franklin tribute, musical theater/improv (built around audience suggestions, yielding “Love Under the Washington Crossing Monument” ), and of course opera. This year, it’s Rossini’s lighthearted romp, “The Barber of Seville.”

The Princeton Festival enters its final week with an observance of Juneteenth. Grammy Award-winning Metropolitan Opera baritone Will Liverman will present a recital of songs by Black composers, with Kevin Miller at the piano – among them, works by Damien Sneed, Margaret Bonds, and Florence Price. Also featured will be a selection from Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” with which Liverman opened the Met’s 2021-22 season. This fall, Liverman will star in the Met production of Anthony Davis’ “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.”

Liverman’s recital will crown a day of Juneteenth-related events, including a flag-raising hosted by the Municipality of Princeton at 1 Monument Hall, at noon.

At 2:00, a talk by Arts Against Racism founder Rhinold Lamar Ponder will open a free exhibition, “Beyond Freedom,” at Morven Museum & Garden’s Stockton Education Center, located behind the Morven mansion at 55 Stockton Street (Route 206).

Of course, Morven is the nucleus of the Princeton Festival, the premier summer arts program of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, with most of the events held under a massive, state-of-the-art performance pavilion erected on the premises. Arrive early to avail yourself of refreshments, the grounds’ ample picnicking opportunities, a garden stroll, or the simple enjoyment of a late-spring/early-summer evening.

Yet to come: the final madcap performance of “The Barber of Seville” (tomorrow), a “Mazel Tov Cocktail Party” with klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and friends (Wednesday); Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” performed by The Sebastians (Thursday, across the street at Trinity Church, Princeton); Andrew Lippa’s musical theater oratorio “I Am Harvey Milk” (Friday & Saturday); and a vaudeville-inspired family concert including “Peter and the Wolf” with Michael Boudewyns of Really Inventive Stuff (Sunday).

All performances begin at 7:00 p.m., EXCEPT the family concert, which will take place on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Kid-friendly activities will be offered on the grounds prior to the last event.

On Friday at 4:00 p.m., acclaimed Broadway composer and lyricist Andrew Lippa (“Big Fish,” “The Addams Family”) will speak with young musicians about his process of writing the musical “I Am Harvey Milk” and the tools artists have at their disposal to create social change. The workshop, to be held at Morven’s Stockton Education Center, is free and open to the public.

The Princeton Festival continues through June 25. For complete listings and ticket information, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Will Liverman’s opera, “The Factotum,” given its premiere in February, is now available for streaming at the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s website.

https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2022-23/the-factotum-film/

June 19, 2023

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