“Portraits of Women in Baroque Music” A Concert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Italian Cultural Institute of New York
presents:
“Portraits of Women in Baroque Music”
A Concert
Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 6:00pm
Location:
Italian Cultural Institute New York, 686 Park Avenue, NY
3/14/2012: The program will focus primarily on 16th and 17th centuries opera repertoire
but will also include various pieces of chamber music performed by violin and basso
continuo as well as a sonata by Vivaldi and one by Isabella Leonarda. The work of the
latter, who is defined as the “Muse of Novara,” is one of the earliest examples of
musical writing by women.
The multi-faceted and vivid world of the psychology of women, as perceived by Baroque
and 18th century musicians, will be explored. Fascinating glimpses of female characters
drawn from opera arias of the Italians Vivaldi, Paisiello and Cavalli as well as music
from Handel and Haydn, will be performed. Different heroines will take many forms
through the virtuosic arias of the Baroque opera repertoire.
1
Performers:
•
•
•
Elvira Di Bona (violin)
Yasue Takahashi (soprano)
Lucy Yates (piano)
The program will be introduced by:
Will Crutchfield, Director of Opera at Caramoor Festival
The artists:
Elvira di Bona
Elvira Di Bona earned a degree in violin from the Music Academy of Terni in 2004 and
also studied privately with Judith Hamza. She completed the “High Specialization
Course in Music Studies – Solo Violin”, held by Rodolfo Bonucci and Domenico Nordio, at
the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. She also attended many international
masters classes led by Reiner Honeck, concertmaster of the Wiener Philarmoniker, Juliu
Hamza, first violin of the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Emanuel Hurwitz, first violin of
the London Philarmonic Orchestra, Mariana Sirbu, Konstatin Bogino and Anatoly
Liebermann.
She has worked with several orchestras such as the “Orchestra Città Aperta”, “I Solisti
Aquilani” and the “Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese”, where she played with Enrico Dindo,
Massimo Quarta and Benedetto Lupo.
She performed as soloist in the presence of the President of the Republic of Italy Giorgio
Napolitano, at the ceremony for the "Benedetto Croce Prize” 2006. She has also played
as soloist for the “Uto ughi per Roma Youth” orchestra and in the Vatican for the
Christmas concert in 2004.
She has earned an MA degree in Philosophy and is a Ph.D. candidate at the university
Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan. She is currently a Fulbright Grantee at the New York
University.
Yasue Takahashi
Yasue Takahashi graduated in 1998 in vocal music under soprano Etsuyo Tachikawa and
tenor Yoshiaki Shinozaki as First Class Performer at Tokyo Musical University. She also
completed a post-graduate course at the same university. She earned a diploma in vocal
music – opera at the Nikikai, Tokyo, in 2002. Yasue attended several masters classes
such as the Korean-Euro Music Festival, Pusan, and the Universitaet fuer Musik Sommer
Seminars, Vienna, and studied under the soprano Miwako Matsumoto. In Italy, she
attended vocal music courses at the Conservatorio Nicolo’ Piccinni, Bari, at the
Accademia Internazionale di Musica and at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Yasue Takahashi performed in many important Japanese institutions such as the Kyu
Tokyo Ongaku Gakkou Sougakudou, the Katsushika Symphony Hills Hall and the
Nihonbashi Koukaidou Public Hall, where she played as Contessa in Mozart’s “Nozze di
2
Figaro” and as Adina in Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore”. In 2002 she performed at the
Tokyo FM Music Hall and, the following year at the Tokyo Opera City. She was also active
in Italy, especially in Rome, where she performed at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia
Concert Hall and where, in 2009, she played for the Radio Vaticana broadcast.
Lucy Yates
Lucy Yates holds degrees in piano and English from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music, where she
studied with Warren Jones and Thomas Muraco; and a diploma "Ottimo" from the
Accademia Italiana di Lingua di Firenze. She has also completed courses at the
Università per Stranieri di Perugia and L’Abri Fellowship in Lausanne. She also was a
founding member of the coaching program at the Manhattan School of Music and has
taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Elon University, and Trinity Episcopal
School for Ministry.
She has spent much of her career as a soprano. In 2002, she made her Italian debut as
Violetta in “La traviata”, a production directed by Franco Zeffirelli and conducted by
Plácido Domingo. She has been a guest of festivals including Ravinia, Aldeburgh, Bard,
and Boston Early Music; and ensembles such as the Orchestra Verdi di Milano, Prague
Radio Symphony, New-York Collegium, and New York Ensemble for Early Music.
As a pianist and a harpsichord player, Lucy Yates has traveled through Europe and North
and South America, performing with musicians from Christopher Hogwood to Carly
Simon. In recent seasons she has played piano for the New York premiere of Grigori
Frid's “Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank”, and has sung premieres of vocal works by Marcus
Maroney, Armand Qualliotine, Richard Thompson, and Sebastián Zubieta. She was heard
on two occasions at Symphony Space, playing and singing the works of Tom Cipullo.
From 2000-2005 she served as music director and principal pianist for the vocal quintet
ArtSong Nouveau.
Lucy Yates teaches Italian grammar, poetry and conversation for Bel Canto at Caramoor,
under the direction of Will Crutchfield.
The program:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Isabella Leonarda (1620 – 1704)
o Sonata Duodecima in D minor for violin solo and continuo from “Sonate a
1,2,3,4 istromenti op. Decima sesta” Bologna 1693
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
o Sonata for violin and basso continuo in D minor (RV 14)
o “Sposa son disprezzata” from Opera “Bajazet”
Giovanni Paisiello (1740 – 1816)
o “Nel cor piu’ non mi sento” from Opera “La Molinara”
Francesco Cavalli (1602 – 1676)
o “Aria di Artemia” from Opera “La Calisto”
Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 – 1759)
o “Ombre, Piante, urne funeste” from Opera “Rodelinda”
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
o “Ragion nell’alma siede” from Opera “Il mondo della luna”
3
The Italian Cultural Institute of New York
Founded in 1961, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York is an office of the Italian
government, dedicated to the promotion of Italian language and culture in the United States
through the organization of cultural events. Under the guidance of its trustees at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, its advisory board, and its staff, the Italian Institute of Culture of New York
conforms to this commitment by fostering the cultural exchange between Italy and the US in a
variety of areas, from the arts to the humanities to science. Central to the Italian Cultural
Institute’s mission is a constant effort to encourage the understanding and enjoyment of Italian
culture by organizing and promoting cultural events in collaboration with the most prominent
academic and cultural institutions of the East Coast. The Italian Cultural Institute of New York
focuses on the development of initiatives aimed at showcasing Italian excellence in various
fields, such as science, technology, the arts and design. The development of academic
exchanges, the organization and support of visual arts exhibitions, the grants for translation
and publication of Italian books, the promotion of Italian studies, and the cooperation with
local institutions in planning various events that focus on Italian music, dance, cinema, theater,
architecture, literature, philosophy etc., are just a few examples of the Institute’s
initiatives. In conclusion, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York provides an “open window”
on the cultural and social aspects of past and current Italy.
For more information please visit: [email protected]
Press contact
Eva Zanardi
Director of Communications
Italian Cultural Insitute of New York
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +1 212 879 4242 ext. 333
Fax +1 212 861-4018
4