25 in 2025 Anniversary Festival
June 14–22
A.R.T./New York - Mezzanine Theatre
502 W. 53rd St.TICKETS
(Choose event and click on “+ Dates” to select performance)
La clemenza di Tito
June 18, 20, 22m
Benjamin Spierman, Stage Director
Chris Fecteau and David Štech, Conductor and Music Director
La clemenza di Tito is both timeless and timely. One of Mozart’s ‘leanest’ operas (approx. 2hrs 15mins in our production), it was composed rather quickly as a coronation commission. Though it calls upon an existing libretto by Metastasio (already set numerous times by other composers) and assigns colleague Sussmayer to set the recitatives, Tito is the opposite of slap-dash. Virtuouso arias that still tell the character’s truth. Characters exquisitely well-drawn, but with plentiful space for the singer-actor to fully enter in. Concertato moments equal to the bel canto composer greats. Instrumental accompaniments that hew to every line of the poetry. But more importantly, characters with heart, with passion, with human weakness and vulnerability. And a hero who gets to his own truth only after struggling with everyone else’s lies and betrayal. A lieto fine seems impossible, and yet…
A tremendously committed cast made up of our most cherished alumni is led by Bronx Opera General Director Ben Spierman, and conducted by dell’Arte Artistic Director Chris Fecteau. Chamber orchestration for sextet by Chris Fecteau, once again populated by our favorite and most dedicated NYC freelance musicians. Please don’t miss this great production!
| June 18, 20, 22m | covers | |
|---|---|---|
| Tito | Stephen Steffens | |
| Sesto | Sarah Nelson Craft | Olivia Ericsson |
| Vitellia | Heather Bobeck | Barbee Monk |
| Annio | Valerie Filloux | Victoria Falcone |
| Servilia | Elizaveta Kozlova | Nina Riley |
| Publio | Jason Adamo | Aaron Petrovich |
Voice of Her Heart
June 14
A very special program featuring both 2025 roster artists and alumni going back to the very beginnings of the company. The first half of the program will center around FRAUENLIEBE und -LEBEN as set by both Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe, surrounded by songs centering a woman’s 19th and early 20th century life. The journey isn’t just about the traditional ideas of the Chamisso’s poetry, but introducing hints of agency, identity and independence. The second half of the program features repertoire by three NYC female composers near and dear to dell’Arte: Martha Sullivan, Valerie Saalbach, and Ellen Mandel. Martha is represented by a recent three song cycle “Chasing Light”. Andi Chinedu Nwoke, Courtenay Budd Caramico, and Clara Lisle, beloved alumni, will present these three modern experiences of women in the world. Elyse Kakacek will sing Valerie Saalbach’s “Caterina to Camoens” cycle setting poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Clara Lisle will sing two heart-warming and heart-wrenching settings of poetry by Seamus Heaney by Ellen Mandel. An entire evening of small treasures that we hope will add up to an emotional experience you cannot forget.
Featuring: Elizaveta Kozlova, Victoria Falcone, Jennifer Gliere, Valerie Filloux, Nina Riley-Hernandez, Jenny Ribeiro, Barbee Monk, Olivia Ericsson, Andrea Chinedo Nwoke, Courtenay Budd Caramico, Antonina Ermolenko, Elyse Kakacek, and pianists David Stech, Lara Saldanha, and Chris Fecteau, who has curated the program.
Italian Songbook
June 19, June 21
The Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian songbook) is a collection of translations of anonymous Italian poems into German by Paul Heyse (1830–1914), first published in 1860. It’s a rich vein of poetry, with seams of love, intrigue, jealousy, musicians and their lovers, lullabyes and laments which inspired composers, most famous among them Hugo Wolf, to compose wonderful, mostly miniature but hugely characterful songs. Our program augments Wolf’s famous settings with more by Joseph Marx, Hermann Goetz, and Arnold Mendelssohn (son of Felix’s cousin). Singers solo, in pairs, and in a trio will weave stories from these songs for our audience to interpret for themselves. Who is the jilted? Is the the father too protective or the daughter too indulgent?
Featuring: Ellen Teufel, Nina Riley-Hernandez, Victoria Falcone, Elizaveta Kozlova, Jason Adamo, Clara Lisle, Andres Penalver, Heather Bobeck, Olivia Ericsson, Stephen Steffens, and pianists Lara Saldanha, David Stech, and Chris Fecteau, who curates the program.
Creative Team & Production Staff
Josh Rose, Lighting DesignerEric Lamp, Costume Designer