On Site Opera & Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice to Present Workshop of Frédéric Chaslin's CLARIMONDE, 8/2

On Site Opera and The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice present a developmental workshop of the new opera Clarimondefrom composer Frederic Chaslin and librettist P.H. Fisher. The workshop culminates with a public reading held on Saturday, August 2, 2014 at 1:30pm in the gothic sanctuary of St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church (109 Main St, Phoenicia, NY 12464). Clarimonde is the second opera written by composer/librettist team Frederic Chaslin and P.H. Fisher and follows their successful collaboration on Wuthering Heights (2007; selections from the piece have recently performed/recorded in Norway, Italy, Israel and Russia by artists such as Natalie Dessay and Diana Damrau.) Chaslin himself will conduct and Eric Einhorn will direct a cast including Alyson Cambridge (soprano) as Clarimonde, Dominic Armstrong (tenor) as Romualdo, Clayton Mathews (bass-baritone) as The Makerand Louis Otey (baritone) as Bishop Serapion. Immediately following the performance, the audience is invited to participate in an open forum Q & A with the creative team and cast.

Clarimonde is an adaptation of The?ophile Gautier's La Morte Amoureuse (1836), a short story in the genre of the conte fantastique where science fiction, fantasy and magic realism merge. La Morte Amoureuse is a classic tale of the supernatural in which a young, handsome priest, Romualdo, falls in love with the beautiful vampiress Clarimonde, whom he first encounters on the day of his ordination ceremony. Clarimonde is not a neck-biting, ghoulish creature with fangs; rather, she is an exquisite, alluring courtesan who genuinely falls in love with Romualdo. She believes that his love for her (and his pure, priestly blood) will redeem her, rescuing her from the eternal doom created by The Maker, the dark vampire master. The tough and wise Bishop Serapion learns of Clarimonde's seduction of Romualdo and wages a battle to save not only Romualdo's physical life, but also his very soul.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.phoeniciavoicefest.org or by phone at 845.586.3588.
The performance will run approximately 90 minutes.

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