A TE, O CARA

Stephen CoStello sings bel canto

Constantine orbelian, ConduCtor

Kaunas City symphony orChestra DE 3541

1 DELOS DE 3541 A TE, O CARA ♦ DELOS DE 3541 A TE, O CARA ♦ A Te, O CArA SingS Bel CAnTO

DONIZETTI: La fille du Régiment — Ah mes amis; Pour me rapprocher de Marie ♦ Don Sebastiano — Deserto in terra ♦ L’elisir d’amore — Quanto e bella; Una furtiva lagrima ♦ — Sogno soave e casto ♦ La favorita — Spirto gentil ♦ — Vivi tu, te ne scongiuro ♦ — Fra poco a me ricovero STEPHEN COSTELLO SINGS BEL CANTO STEPHEN COSTELLO SINGS BEL CANTO BELLINI: I puritani — A te, o cara

VERDI: — Parmi veder le lagrime

STEPHEN COSTELLO, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, Conductor

Total Playing Time: 49:57 DE 3541

© 2018 Delos Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 343, Sonoma, CA 95476-9998

(800) 364-0645 • (707) 996-3844 [email protected] • www.delosmusic.com A TE, O CARA STEPHEN COSTELLO SINGS BEL CANTO

GAETANO DONIZETTI:

1. La fille du régiment — “Ah mes amis” (4:08) 2. La fille du régiment — “Pour me rapprocher de Marie” (3:31) VICENZO BELLINI: 3. I puritani — “A te, o cara” (3:19) DONIZETTI: 4. Don Sebastiano — “Deserto in terra” (5:32) 5. L’elisir d’amore — “Quanto e bella” (2:40) 6. L’elisir d’amore — “Una furtiva lagrima” (5:00) 7. Don Pasquale — “Sogno soave e casto” (2:21) 8. La favorita — “Spirto gentil” (4:59) 9. Anna Bolena — “Vivi tu, te ne scongiuro” (5:21) GIUSEPPE VERDI: 10. Rigoletto — “Parmi veder le lagrime” (5:36) DONIZETTI: 11. Lucia di Lammermoor — “Fra poco a me ricovero” (7:29)

STEPHEN COSTELLO, tenor

Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, conductor

Total Playing Time: 49:57

2 “The love of a friend can have a powerful impact on one's life. This album is for you, Dima. Without you, none of this would have been possible. You are still as present in the world today as when you walked among us.”

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM 3. I puritani, by — pre- miered in Paris in January of 1835 — is 1. wrote the comic op- regarded by many (despite its awkward era La fille du régiment, one of his best- ) as one of the most beautiful of loved works, while he was living in Paris, Bellini’s ten — second only to Nor- where the was premiered in 1840. ma, his masterpiece. It was his final work in The work’s hero, the Tyrolean commoner the genre; he died tragically young at age Tonio, is in love with Marie, an orphaned 33 only nine months later. The plot centers girl who had been adopted by the French around the seemingly star-crossed love be- 21st Regiment — and he will stop at noth- tween Cavalier Arturo of the Royalists and ing to gain Marie’s hand in marriage. lady Elvira of the Puritans: the opposing fac- Tonio’s signature aria “Ah! Mes amis” is tions of the 1649 English Civil War. In scene 3 heard in Act I, after he has decided to en- of Act I, Arturo joins his bride-to-be Elvira in list in the regiment, knowing that he can the Puritan castle hall bearing gifts, and — in only marry Marie if he is a member of the the impassioned aria “A te, o cara” — sings unit. Studded with a total of nine high Cs, of the love he has always had for her. this is one of the most spectacularly de- manding tenor arias in the operatic canon. 4. Donizetti’s Don Sebastiano, re di Porto- gallo (which is better known in its French 2. In Act II of the same opera, the noble- version) was his final opera, completing it woman Marquise of Berkenfield takes before he sank into insanity and suffered his Marie — who turns out to be her long-lost final illness. First staged in 1843, this tragic niece — into her castle, where she has re- (and lengthy) tale has been called “a funeral solved to transform Marie into a proper in five acts.” In the story, the Christian Portu- lady, fit to marry her aristocratic nephew. guese king Don Sebastiano has embarked However, Marie still loves Tonio; and when upon a crusade against the Moors in Mo- the Marquise catches Marie and Tonio to- rocco, where his army is soon annihilated by gether, Tonio reveals the depths of his love Moorish forces. As Act II draws to a close, for Marie in the romance “Pour me rap- Sebastiano is left on the battlefield, badly procher de Marie.” wounded and in utter desolation. He gives

3 voice to his shame and misery in “Deser- it and does a brief but booming business to in terra,” finding his only consolation in selling his “potion” before fleeing town. knowing that he still has “the love of a wom- an and the heart of a soldier.” 7. Considered one of the supreme exam- ples of opera buffa, Donizetti’s often hilari- 5. Written in only six weeks, the comic opera ous Don Pasquale was premiered in 1843. (melodrama giocoso) L’elisir d’amore has The opera’s hero Ernesto, the nephew (and remained one of Donizetti’s most popular heir apparent) of the elderly bachelor Don operas ever since its 1832 premiere in Mi- Pasquale, is in love with Norina. But fair- lan. It tells of the young peasant Nemori- ly early in Act I, the old man shocks and no and his love for Adina, a beautiful and surprises Ernesto, telling him of his sudden wealthy landowner. Early in Act I, Nemorino decision to disinherit Ernesto and marry sings of his love for her in his aria “Quanto his own “beloved” (who later turns out to è bella,” wondering who can help him win be Norina), enabling him to produce a true her heart. After overhearing Adina reading heir. In his desolate, but lovely aria “Sogno to her workers about the magic love po- soave e casto,” Ernesto — facing certain tion of the ancient Tristan and Isolde leg- destitution — laments the demise of his end, he concludes that such a potion is the fondest dream: to lavish wealth and luxury only way to win Adina’s love. The charlatan upon Norina; and he resolves to renounce Dulcamara then appears and sells Nemori- their relationship, sparing her the misery of no a flask of cheap wine, claiming that this his apparent poverty-stricken future. “potion” will do the trick — but it only gets him drunk! 8. Set in Spain in the era of the Moorish inva- sions, Donizetti’s La favorita — in its French 6. In Act II of the same opera, Nemorino version — had its 1840 premiere in Paris. In observes Adina in tears after he has sur- the opera, the former monk Fernando, not reptitiously given her the alleged mag- knowing that his beloved Leonora has been ic potion. Believing that he has finally the “favorite” (or mistress) of King Alphonse, won Adina’s heart, Nemorino voices his asks the king for her hand in marriage, increasing passion in the melting and which is granted as his reward for leading beautifully crafted aria “Una furtiva la- the Castilian forces to victory in battle over grima” — a staple of any bel canto tenor’s the Moors. Thinking that his bride-to-be is repertoire. Seeing the happy pair in each pure, Fernando prepares to marry her. But other’s arms, Dulcamara then claims cred- before she appears, he finds out that she

4 has been the king’s lover. Broken-heart- Duke discovers that Gilda — having been ed, he returns to his onetime monastery previously seduced by the disguised duke and — in “Spirto gentil” — bitterly mourns and then abducted by courtiers angered the betrayal of his love and the loss of Le- by Rigoletto’s vicious insults — is missing. onora, praying for forgetfulness. The duke, in an initially apparent reversal of his immoral character, laments the dis- 9. Anna Bolena — one of Donizetti’s vaunted appearance of his so-called “beloved” in “three queens” series — recounts the events “Parmi veder le lagrime” — even intimat- leading up to the brutal fate of Anna (Anne ing that she has made a “virtuous man” of Boleyn), the second wife of England’s King him — and swears to take revenge on those Henry VIII (Enrico). She has been condemned who have taken her away from him. to death on false charges to clear the king’s path to wed Giovanna (), his 11. Donizetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor pre- third marriage. Lord Percy (Anna was his miered in Naples in 1835. The opera tells first love) and Lord Rochefort (Anna’s broth- the tale of Lucia, sister to the Lord of Lam- er) — having also been sentenced to death mermoor, and her star-crossed love for on trumped-up charges — languish together Edgardo, the last surviving member of the in their Tower-of-London cell, awaiting their Ravenwoods: a family with which Lucia’s own executions. The king’s courtier Hervey en- has been embroiled in a generations-long ters to tell them that the king has pardoned dispute. In the third and final act of the op- them both. But after learning from Hervey era, Edgardo sings the aria “Fra poco a me that Anna is to be executed, they choose to ricovero,” expressing his utter despair at the share her fate. Percy, in his aria “Vivi tu, te ne thought of his imminent self-inflicted doom scongiuro,” begs Rochefort in vain to accept amid the tombs of his ancestors, calling them the king’s pardon and seek “a land less sad,” “an ill-fated lineage.” And believing that Lucia where he can lament Percy’s and Anna’s fates (who has gone mad and died) is still alive and and pray for them. newly married to his rival, Edgardo implores her in absentia not to visit his tomb with her 10. Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi’s grim oper- new husband. He then learns of Lucia’s de- atic tale of the womanizing Duke of Man- mise, but his grief is tempered by his resolve tua’s hunchbacked court jester, Rigoletto, to join her in heaven. After Lucia’s bier passes, and his ill-fated daughter Gilda, received Edgardo stabs himself and dies. its wildly successful premiere at Venice’s La Fenice theater in 1850. In Act II, the — Lindsay Koob

5 1. Donizetti: La fille du régiment – “Ah! Mes amis, quel jour de fête”

Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête! Ah! my friends, what a day to celebrate! Je vais marcher sous vos drapeaux. I shall march beneath your banners. L’amour, qui m’a tourné la tête, Love, which has turned my head, désormais me rend un héros. henceforth makes me a hero. Ah! quel bonheur, oui, mes amis, Ah! What happiness, yes, my friends, je vais marcher sous vos drapeaux! I shall march beneath your banners! Qui, celle pour qui je respire, Yes, she whom I sigh for, a mes voeux a daigné sourire has consented to smile upon my suit et ce doux espoir de bonheur and this sweet hope of happiness trouble ma raison et man coeur! Ah! disturbs my reason and my heart!

Pour mon âme, What a destiny quel destin! for my soul! J’ai sa flamme, I have both her heart, et j’ai sa main! and her hand! Jour prospère! Lucky day! Me voici, Here I stand, militaire et mari! soldier and husband!

2. Donizetti: La fille du régiment – “Pour me rapprocher de Marie”

Pour me rapprocher de Marie, So that I could approach Marie je m’enrôlai, pauvre soldat, l enlisted as a poor soldier. j’ai pour elle risqué ma vie, I have risked my life for her et je disais dans les combats: and I would say as battle raged: Si, jamais la grandeur enivre, if ever grandeur could enchant cet ange qui m’a su charmer, ah! this angel who has stolen my heart, ah! Il me faudrait cesser de vivre, I would rather stop living s’il me fallait cesser d’aimer! than to stop loving her! Tout en tremblant, je viens, Madame, Trembling I come, Madame,

6 réclamer mon unique bien! to claim my dearest treasure! Si j’ai su lire dans son âme, If I can read in her soul, mon bonheur est aussi le sien! both my happiness and her own! Lorsqu’à l’espoir mon coeur se livre; When I give my heart up to love; sa voix saura vous désarmer. her voice will disarm you more. Il me faudrait cesser de vivre, I would rather stop living s’il me fallait cesser d’aimer! Than to stop loving her!

3. Bellini: I puritani — “A te, o cara”

A te, o cara, amor talora, To you, oh beloved, mi guidò furtivo e in pianto; love once led me furtively and in tears; or mi guida a te d’accanto, now, in joy and exultation, tra la gioia e l’esultar. it takes me to your side.

Al brillar di sì bell’ora, In the brilliance of such a happy hour, se rammento il mio tormento recalling my sufferings si raddoppia il mio contento, my happiness is redoubled, m’è più caro il palpitar. and love’s heartbeats are yet dearer.

4. Donizetti: Don Sebastiano, re di Portogallo — “Deserto in terra”

Deserto in terra — che più mi avanza? Alone in the world — what more is left for me? Fin la speranza — fuggì da me! Even hope has flown from me! Tu sol mi resti — core amoroso, You alone abide — loving heart, angiol pietoso — che il ciel mi die! Ah! angel of mercy, gift of heaven! Che non poss’ io — per tanta fè, Why can’t I, for so much love, il serto mio — deporti al piè ? lay my crown at your feet? Folle! di trono — che pur ragiono ? Madness! Can I even think of a throne? Ahi nulla il fato — a me lasciò! Ah! Ah! Fate has left me nothing! Deserto in terra — che più m’avanza? Alone in the world — what more is left for me? Fin la speranza — m’abbandonò! Even hope has flown from me!

7 Pur fra l’ ire di sorte funesta Yet in the thrall of cruel fate, non del tutto son misero ancor, I am still not completely bereft, se l’amore d’un angiol mi resta, Ah! if I still have the love of an angel D’ un soldato se restami il cor ! And am yet a soldier at heart!

5. Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore — “Quanto è bella”

Quanto è bella, quanto è cara! How beautiful, how dear she is, Più la vedo, e più mi piace... The more I see of her, the more I like her. ma in quel cor non son capace But in that heart I’m not capable lieve affetto ad inspirar. of inspiring such affection. Essa legge, studia, impara... She reads, studies and learns… non vi ha cosa ad essa ignota... I don’t see her ignoring anything. Io son sempre un idiota, I’m always such an idiot; io non so che sospirar. all I know how to do is sigh. Chi la mente mi rischiara? Who will clear my mind? Chi m’insegna a farmi amar? Who will show me how to be loved?

6. Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore — “Una furtiva lagrima”

Una furtiva lagrima A single furtive tear negli occhi suoi spuntò: fell from her eye: Quelle festose giovani as if she envied all the youths invidiar sembrò. that laughing, passed her by. Che più cercando io vo? What more searching need I do? Che più cercando io vo? What more searching need I do? M’ama! Sì, m’ama, She loves me! Yes, she loves me — lo vedo. Lo vedo. I see it, I see it. Un solo instante i palpiti For just an instant I could feel del suo bel cor sentir! the beating of her beautiful heart! I miei sospir, confondere As if my sighs were hers, per poco a’ suoi sospir! and her sighs were mine!

8 I palpiti, i palpiti sentir, I could feel the beating, the beating confondere i miei of her heart; coi suoi sospir... to join my sighs with hers... Cielo! Si può morir! Heavens! Yes, I could die! Di più non chiedo, non chiedo. I could ask for nothing more, nothing more. Ah, cielo! Si può! Si, può morir! Oh, heavens! Yes, I could, I could die! Di più non chiedo, non chiedo. I could ask for nothing more, nothing more. Si può morire! Si può morir d’amor. Yes, I could die! Yes, I could die of love.

7. Donizetti: Don Pasquale — “Sogno soave e casto”

Sogno soave e casto Sweet and chaste dream de’ miei prim’anni, addio. of my early years, farewell. Bramai ricchezze e fasto I longed for wealth and splendor, solo per te, ben mio: Just for you, my love: Povero, abbandonato, Poor, abandoned, caduto in basso stato, fallen to a low state, pria che vederti misera, before seeing you in such misery, cara, rinunzio a te. dear, I must renounce you.

8. Donizetti: La favorita — “Spirto gentil”

Favorita del re! qual negro abisso, The king’s mistress! What black abyss, qual mia trama infernal, la gloria mia what intrigue on my part, has shrouded avvolse in un istante, my glory in an instant, e ogni speme troncò del and shattered my loving heart’s core amante! every hope!

Spirto gentil, Gentle spirit, ne’ sogni miei brillasti un dì, you once lit up my dreams, ma ti perdei: but I‘ve lost you:

9 Fuggi dal cor mentita speme, Fly from my heart, false hope, larve d’amor fuggite insieme. begone, all illusions of love.

A te d’accanto At your side, unfaithful woman del genitore scordava il pianto, I would forget my father’s sorrow, la patria, il ciel donna sleal; my country and heaven. in tanto amore segnasti il cor But loving me so, you marked d’onta mortal, ahimè! my heart with mortal shame — alas!

9. Donizetti: Anna Bolena — “Vivi tu, te ne scongiuro”

Vivi tu, te ne scongiuro, Live, I beg you, tu men tristo, e men dolente; seek a land less sorrowful, cerca un suolo in cui securo less painful, in which an innocent man abbia asilo un innocente; might find safe asylum; cerca un lido in cui vietato seek a shore where it might not be forbidden non ti sia per noi pregar. for you to pray for us. Ah! qualcuno il nostro fato Ah! Let someone remain on earth resti in terra a lagrimar. to bewail our fate. Nel veder la tua costanza The sight of your constancy il mio cor si rasserena, cheers my heart, non temea che la tua pena I feared only your sorrow, non soffria che il tuo soffrir. only your suffering brought me pain. L’ultim’ora che s’avanza Together we can both defy ambedue sfidar possiamo, the last hour that draws near. che nessun quaggiù lasciamo, We leave no one here on earth, né timore, né desir. and go without fear or desire.

10. Verdi: Rigoletto — “Parmi veder le lagrime”

Ella mi fu rapita! She has been taken away from me! E quando, o ciel!... When? O heavens, just before

10 ne’ brevi istanti, prima, a dark omen sent me rushing che un presagio interno onto the trodden path! sull’ orma corsa ancora mi spingesse! The door was ajar! The house deserted! Schiuso era l’ uscio! la magion deserta! Where is that dear angel now? E dove ora sarà quell’ angiol caro? She was the only one who could Colei che potè prima in questo core kindle in this heart the flame of destar la fiamma di undying love! costanti affetti? Where will I find her?

Colei si pura, al cui modesto accento She so pure that I can dare to believe quasi tratto a virtù talor mi credo! that her modest glance has made me virtuous! Ella mi fu rapita! I can even believe it has made me virtuous! E chi l’ ardiva?... ma ne avrò vendetta... She was taken from me! Who dared it? lo chiede il pianto della mia diletta. I will take revenge, her tears ask for it.

Parmi veder le lagrime I can almost see her tears flow scorrenti da quel ciglio, from her eyes, quando fa il duolo e l’ ansia when torn between sorrow and anxiety del subito priglio, of the sudden danger dell’ amor nostro memore in recalling our love il suo Gualtier chiamò. she called out for her Gualtier. Ned ei potea soccorrerti, Nor could he rescue you, cara fanciulla amata; dear beloved, even as he ei che vorría coll’ anima longed with his entire soul farti quaggiù beata; to bring you earthly happiness; ei che le sfere agli angeli he doesn’t envy the angels in heaven per te non invidiò. when you are near.

11. Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor — “Fra poco a me ricovero”

Tombe degli avi miei, l’ultimo avanzo Ah, ancestral tombs, receive me, d’una stirpe infelice, deh! raccogliete voi. the last of an ill-fated lineage. Cessò dell’ira il breve foco My anger’s flare is extinguished;

11 sul nemico acciaro abbandonar mi vo! I now abandon myself to my Per me la vita è orrendo peso! enemy’s sword. l’universo intero è un deserto per me Life is a horrendous burden; senza Lucia! without Lucia, the universe is a desert, Di faci tuttavia splende il castello, Ah! though the torches still light the castle. Scarsa fu la notte al tripudio! Ah, ungrateful woman, Ingrata donna! how fleeting was the night of jubilation. mentr’io mi struggo in disperato pianto, While I languish in tearful desperation, tu ridi, esulti accanto al felice consorte! you laugh merrily by your lucky hus- Tu della gioie in seno, band’s side tu della gioie in seno, io della morte! even as your very joy kills me.

Fra poco a me ricovero Give me now refuge, darà negletto avello, neglected tomb. una pietosa lagrima Nobody’s tears of pity non scenderà su quello! will fall on you! Ah! fin degli estinti, ahi misero! Ah! Not even death Manca il conforto a me. will bring me comfort Tu pur, tu pur dimentica as you, oh cruel one, quel marmo dispregiato: forget this lowly grave. Mai non passarvi, o barbara Never pass by it del tuo consorte a lato. at your husband’s side. Ah! rispetta almen le ceneri Respect, at least, the remains di chi moria per te, of he who gave his life for you. rispetta almen le ceneri di chi moria per te! etc. Mai non passarvi, tulo dimentica, Oh, savage one, I die for you! rispetta almeno chi muore per te, mai non passarvi, tulo dimentica, rispetta almeno chi muore, chi muore per te, o barbara, io moro per te!

12 Stephen Costello He gave his first performances with the Tenor Boston Symphony and Andris Nelsons alongside Renée Fleming in Strauss’s Der “A prodigiously gifted singer whose voice Rosenkavalier and made his Los Angeles makes an immediate impact” (Associated Opera debut in La bohème as Rodolfo, Press), Stephen Costello stands “among now one of his most celebrated signa- the world’s best ” (Daily Express, ture roles. For his first appearances at UK). The Philadelphia-born artist came to Washington National Opera, he resumed national attention in 2007, when, aged 26, the role of Greenhorn in Heggie/Scheer’s he made his debut on Moby Dick, and for his Houston Grand the company’s season-opening night. Two Opera debut, he scored glowing reviews years later he won the prestigious Rich- as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto. Verdi’s ard Tucker Award, and in 2010 he drew Duke has since also been the vehicle for special praise for his creation of the role Costello’s memorable appearances in the of Greenhorn (Ishmael) in ’s Met’s Vegas setting of the opera, directed celebrated world-premiere production of by Michael Mayer, and in a special tele- and ’s Moby Dick. vised, outdoor performance of Rigoletto He has since appeared at many of the in Hannover. Other career highlights saw world’s most important opera houses and him headline “BrAVA Philadelphia!” — the music festivals, including London’s Royal Academy of Vocal Arts’ 80th Anniversary Opera House, Covent Garden; the Deut- Gala Concert — at Philadelphia’s Kimmel sche Oper Berlin; the ; Center, and undertake the male lead in the ; San Francisco La traviata, both for the historic first live Opera; Washington National Opera; and webcast of a complete opera from Lon- the Salzburg Festival. don’s Royal Opera House, and in a San Francisco Opera production that was si- Costello played the tenor lead in each mulcast to thousands in AT&T Park, home of Donizetti’s three Tudor operas at the of baseball’s San Francisco Giants. Dallas Opera, before reprising Lord Percy opposite for his second Costello’s performance as Cassio in Verdi’s opening-night performance at the Met, , under Riccardo Muti’s leadership in the company’s premiere presentation at the Salzburg Festival, was released on of Anna Bolena, which was transmitted DVD in 2010 (Major/Naxos), and his Cov- worldwide in the Met’s Live in HD series. ent Garden debut in Donizetti’s Linda di

13 14 Chamounix was issued on CD a year later athletic training.” He resides with his wife, (Opera Rara). His star turn in San Fran- Yoon Kwon, a violinist with the Metropoli- cisco Opera’s Moby Dick, televised na- tan Opera Orchestra, in New York City. tionwide on PBS’s Great Performances, was released on DVD in 2013 (SFO) and www.stephencostellotenor.com named an “Editor’s Choice” by Gramo- www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Costello phone. Similarly, his appearance alongside twitter.com/CostelloTenor Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and oth- https://www.instagram.com/scostello929/ er operatic luminaries in 2013’s Richard Tucker Gala, which celebrated the legend- ary tenor’s centennial, was broadcast on Grammy-nominated conductor Constantine PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center and sub- Orbelian “stands astride two great societies, sequently issued on DVD. The same year and finds and promotes synergistic harmony saw the release of here/after: songs of lost from the best of each.” (Fanfare) For over 25 voices (PentaTone), featuring the tenor’s years the brilliant American pianist/conduc- world premiere recording of Jake Heggie’s tor has been a central figure in Russia’s and Friendly Persuasions: Homage to Poulenc. Eastern Europe’s musical life — first as Music Director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra Besides winning the 2009 Richard Tucker and the Philharmonia of Russia, and more re- Award, Stephen Costello has previously cently as Chief Conductor of the Kaunas City received other grants from the Richard Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania. In 2016 Tucker Music Foundation, as well as tak- he also became Artistic Director of the State ing First Prize in the 2006 George London Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Yere- Foundation Awards Competition, First van, Armenia. In all of these centers, Orbelian Prize and Audience Prize in the Giargia- leads concerts and recordings with some of ri Bel Canto Competition, and First Prize the world’s greatest singers. in the -Puccini Foundation Competition. A native of Philadelphia, he Opera News calls Constantine Orbelian is a graduate of the city’s famed Academy “the singer’s dream collaborator,” and of Vocal Arts. He is also a proud supporter commented that he conducts vocal reper- of the Jack Costello Boxing Gym, named toire “with the sensitivity of a lieder pianist.” for his uncle and dedicated to “improv- The California-based conductor tours and ing the health, self-esteem and character records with American stars such as Son- of Philadelphia youth through structured dra Radvanovsky and Lawrence Brownlee,

15 16 and made numerous celebrated record- Russia. His recording of the Khachaturian ings with Dmitri Hvorostovsky before the piano concerto with conductor Neeme Jär- legendary singer’s untimely death. Orbeli- vi won the “Best Concerto Recording of the an is the founder of the annual Palaces of Year” award in the United Kingdom. St. Petersburg International Music Festival. Orbelian’s appointment in 1991 as Music “Orbelian has star quality, and his orches- Director of the Moscow Chamber Orches- tra plays with passion and precision,” The tra was a breakthrough event: he is the first Audio Critic wrote of his acclaimed series American ever to become music director of of over 50 recordings on Delos. Among his an ensemble in Russia. A tireless champi- concert and televised appearances are col- on of Russian-American cultural exchange laborations with stars Renée Fleming and and international ambassadorship through Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and with Van Cliburn his worldwide tours, he was awarded the in Cliburn’s sentimental return to Moscow, coveted title “Honored Artist of Russia” in the great pianist’s last performance. Orbe- 2004, a title never before bestowed on a lian’s frequent collaborations with Hvoros- non-Russian citizen. In May 2010, Orbelian tovsky included repertoire from their Delos led the opening Ceremonial Concert for recordings of universal sentimental songs the Cultural Olympics in Sochi — he first Where Are You, My Brothers? and Moscow event setting the stage for Russia’s host- Nights, as well as their 2015 recording in ing of the Olympic Games in 2014. In 2012 the same series, Wait for Me. Orbelian has the Consulate in San Francisco awarded conducted historic live telecasts from Mos- him the Russian Order of Friendship Med- cow’s Red Square, with such artists as Hvo- al, whose illustrious ranks include pianist rostovsky and Anna Netrebko. Van Cliburn and conductor Riccardo Muti, and which singles out non-Russians whose Born in San Francisco to Russian and Arme- work contributes to the betterment of in- nian emigré parents, Constantine Orbelian ternational relations with the Russian Fed- made his debut as a piano prodigy with the eration and its people. San Francisco Symphony at the age of 11. After graduating from Juilliard in New York, From his 1995 performance at the 50th he embarked on a career as a piano virtu- Anniversary Celebrations of the United oso that included appearances with major Nations in San Francisco, to his 2004 per- symphony orchestras throughout the Unit- formance at the U.S. State Department ed States, United Kingdom, Europe, and commemorating 70 years of diplomatic

17 relations between Washington and Mos- enrichment programs for young people, cow, and a repeat State Department ap- both in Russia and the United States In pearance in 2007, all with the Moscow 2001 Orbelian was awarded the Ellis Island Chamber Orchestra, Orbelian continues Medal of Honor, an award given to immi- to use his artistic eminence in the cause grants, or children of immigrants, who of international goodwill. He and his or- have made outstanding contributions to chestras have also participated in cultural the United States.

Constantine Orbelian and the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra

18 Recorded at Kaunas Philharmonic, May 14-19th, 2017

Producer: Vilius Keras Recording Engineers: Vilius Keras, Aleksandra Kerienė Editing: Aleksandra Kerienė Mastering: Vilius Keras Delos Executive Producer: Carol Rosenberger Program notes: Lindsay Koob Booklet editors: Lindsay Koob, Anne Maley, David Brin Booklet design/layout: Lonnie Kunkel Costello Photo Credit: Simon Pauly Translation assistance: Dennis Adams

© 2018 Delos Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 343, Sonoma, CA 95476-9998 (707) 996-3844 • (800) 364-0645 [email protected] • www.delosmusic.com Made in USA

19 A TE, O CARA STEPHEN COSTELLO SINGS BEL CANTO

DE 3541 20