Slow Opera Reconstruction In The Old World; 'Hot Oratorio' In The New World For Those With Internet Access

ROME (AP) -- "A Vivaldi opera that has not been performed officially for several centuries will be featured at this summer's Festival of the Two Worlds in the Umbrian hill town of Spoleto, organizers said Monday.

American conductor Alan Curtis will lead the Baroque Ensemble in the first performance since 1723 of ''l'Ercole su'l Termodonte.''

''I have been working on this opera for over 10 years,'' Curtis said at a news conference to present the festival's program, running June 30 to July 16 in Spoleto, 80 miles north of Rome.

''The mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli said some of her favorite arias were from this opera, so I set out to find all of them,'' Curtis said." ...

Associated Press "Centuries - Old Opera Planned for Spoleto [Italy]" June 5, 2006 via nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Spoleto-Festival.html

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Free Concert in the Strathmore, North Bethesda, Maryland Music Center - AMERICA SINGS!

AMERICA SINGS!, presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America, is a free, one-of-a-kind concert that will celebrate America's rich choral tradition. The fast-paced, 90-minute concert on June 11 at 2 p.m. will feature more than 300 singers in a kaleidoscope of music from the Revolutionary War to the present, drawing on some of the most outstanding choruses, chorus leaders and composers in this country. The concert launches the choral component of “American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts that supports seven regional choral festivals and tours that highlight an American repertoire.

Free tickets are available online only, no tickets by phone.

http://www.strathmore.org/