November 2, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Music Director Designate Carlos Kalmar makes his much-anticipated return to Portland to conduct the Oregon Symphony’s annual “Best of the Baroque” concert, featuring Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks” and selections from “Messiah” on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Kalmar will conduct an encore performance of this program, which also features the Portland Symphonic Choir and Baroque arias performed by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. as part of the “Symphony Sunday” series; an additional performance in Salem’s Smith Auditorium is scheduled on Dec. 2. These concerts are supported by a grant from the E. Nakamichi Foundation. Media support for the Nov. 30 performance is provided by KINKfm102.
“All of us at the orchestra are extremely excited to have Carlos Kalmar conduct the ‘Best of the Baroque’ concert since it marks his first return to the orchestra’s podium since being named Music Director Designate,” said Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer. Kalmar, named the successor to 23-year Music Director James DePreist in May, was the overwhelming choice of the orchestra, board and audience. “Kalmar will bring vitality and excitement to our performances and guide the orchestra into a new era of artistic growth, carrying on from the remarkable progress brought about by Maestro DePreist,” said Assistant Principal Viola Charles Noble, a member of the search committee.
Kalmar is currently serving as Music Director of Vienna’s Tonkünstlerorchester and Principal Conductor of Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival and will begin his appointment as the Oregon Symphony’s 10th music director in August of 2003. He has served as the music director for several of Germany’s finest orchestras, including the Hamburg Symphony, Stuttgart Philharmonic and Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany. His guest conducting engagements for both symphony and opera include appearances with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, National Orchestra of Spain, ORT Orchestra of Florence, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera House and the National Opera of Brussels, among others.
Costanzo, described by Calmer as “one of the most gifted young countertenors of his generation,” made his Oregon Symphony debut in the 2001 Yuletide concert series; he returned in April of this year to perform in a special April Fool’s Concert, where he wowed the crowd. A rising talent, Costanzo has performed with several major ensembles, including the National Symphony and the Spoleto Festival and is making a name for himself in opera with regional ensembles.
Kalmar opens the concert with Handel’s beloved “Music for Royal Fireworks,” originally written at the request of England’s King George II, an Austrian, to accompany a large fireworks display in London's Green Park which was meant to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. Costanzo sings arias from Handel’s “Ariodante” and a rarely performed virtuoso castrato aria written by Baroque opera composer Johann Hasse. In the second half, Kalmar conducts the “Air” from Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, after which the Symphonic Choir joins the orchestra and Costanzo for excerpts from “Messiah.”
Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets for the “Best of the Baroque” concert range in price from $21 to $59; Symphony Sunday tickets are $13 for students and seniors, $22 general admission and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Carlos Kalmar, the internationally acclaimed Music Director of Vienna’s Tonkünstlerorchester and Principal Conductor of Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, is the newly appointed Music Director Designate of the Oregon Symphony. Kalmar will serve as Music Director Designate for the 2002-2003 season and will succeed James DePreist as the orchestra’s 10th Music Director beginning with the 2003-2004 season.
Kalmar has been music director of the Hamburg Symphony (1987 to 1991), Stuttgart Philharmonic (1991 to 1995) and Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany (1996-2000). His guest conducting engagements of symphony and opera, throughout Europe and North America include appearances with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Philharmonische Staatsorchester of Bremen, Bochum Symphony, Dortmund Philharmonic, NDR Radio Orchestra of Hannover, National Orchestra of Spain, ORT Orchestra of Florence, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera House and the National Opera of Brussels, among others.
Kalmar made his German debut in April 1985 with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, which immediately invited him back for two more concerts. Further invitations to conduct in Germany followed, including the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonische Staatsorchester of Bremen, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Museumsorchester and the NDR Radio Orchestra in Hannover. In June 2000, Kalmar made his highly successful British orchestra debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as part of their prestigious “Scottish Proms” series in Glasgow. July 2000 saw his first concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom he maintains a continuing relationship. Guest engagements during 2000-2001 include the Rio de Janeiro Opera House Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester- Salzburg, Jeunesse Musicales World Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Denver Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony and Colorado Symphony Orchestra, among others.
In addition to his music directorship at Grant Park, Kalmar returns to North America for guest engagements every season, conducting such orchestras as the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Buffalo Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Jacksonville (Florida) Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Many of the orchestras have invited him for second and third appearances.
John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune writes of Kalmar, “In the Germanic works which rounded out the program, Beethoven’s ‘Creatures of Prometheus’ Overture and the Brahms Symphony No. 1, Kalmar impressed as a sensitive, probing and communicative young conductor the orchestra world should be paying serious attention to — and undoubtedly will before long.”
Carlos Kalmar was born in 1958 of Austrian parents in Montevideo, Uruguay. He began studying violin at age 6, and by age 15, his musical development led him to the Vienna Academy of Music where he studied conducting with Karl Österreicher.
Mr. Kalmar resides in Vienna with his wife and two daughters; he plans to establish a residence in Portland.
Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 in the Broadway touring production of “Falsettos” and continued to work for several years in musical theater touring with Marie Osmond in “The Sound of Music,” and appearing on Broadway in the Paramount Theater production of “A Christmas Carol.”
Mr. Costanzo's involvement in opera and concert venues began in 1994 with his participation in the Lincoln Center production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” In 1994 he also played Amahl with the Opera Company of North Carolina. Anthony went on to what the New York Times labeled “a triumphant performance” as Miles in the New Jersey Opera Festival production of “The Turn of the Screw,” and subsequently appeared with Luciano Pavarotti in the Academy of Music “Opera Extravaganza.” He has also been featured soloist with the orchestras of Indianapolis, Alabama, Detroit and performed as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at both the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall in John Corigliano's “A Dylan Thomas Trilogy.”
As a young adult, Mr. Costanzo has maintained his soprano voice, and recently sang the roles of Cherubino in the Santa Barbara Opera production of “The Marriage of Figaro” (1/2000), and the Master of Ceremonies in Karole Armitage's “Casanova” in Italy (5-6/2000). Last Christmas he sang in a concert with the National Symphony at Kennedy Center. He sang the roles of Witch #1 and Second Woman in “Dido and Aeneas” with the Spoleto Festival USA in the spring of 2001.
Mr. Costanzo recently added film acting to his repertoire and made his film debut in the supporting role of Francis in the Merchant Ivory production of “A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries.” He earned coast-to-coast acclaim for his performance in this role as well as the nomination for Best Debut Performance for the 1999 Independent Spirit Awards.
Mr. Costanzo is 20 years old, has graduated from The Professional Children's School in New York City and is currently attending Princeton University.