[MUSIC - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4]
Kathy Schuman: I think the programming at Caramoor is so special, particularly because of the varied nature of it and the breadth of what we do. There are not many other festivals that are doing so many different genres and so many different scales of programming because of the different nooks and crannies of the property. This was somebody's home. It was their house, it was their gardens and grounds. It very much retains that atmosphere as opposed to a big performing arts center or big amphitheaters out in other parts of the country. [MUSIC - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4]
Elliott Forrest: That's Kathy Schuman, vice president and artistic director of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. For 80 years, this much-loved music venue north of New York City has been bringing music to the Westchester community on its beautiful property and stunning gardens. I'm Elliott Forrest. For the next two hours, we'll hear highlights from a recent season featuring two ensembles who have a long association with this performance space, the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the chamber ensemble The Knights. Schuman gave us a little more background on the history of Caramoor.
Kathy Schuman: Caramoor was started by Lucie and Walter Rosen. They founded the festival in 1946. They had bought the property up in Katonah in the late 1920s. They were music lovers. Lucie Rosen actually played the theremin, the world's first electronic instrument, and Walter Rosen was an amateur pianist. They had many musician friends and had concerts in their home for years, and then decided to start their own festival.
The original concerts happened in the Spanish courtyard of the beautiful Rosen House. Then in the late 1950s, they built the Venetian Theater outdoors, which is where our orchestra concerts take place. That opened in 1958. Over the years, it's expanded the genres from purely classical music festival to include jazz, and American roots, and Broadway, and global music, and all sorts of music. I would say that at least half of the offerings are still classical music, ranging from recitals to orchestras to chamber music to opera to whatever. It's been 80 years.
Elliott Forrest: Caramoor Artistic Director Kathy Schuman.
The music we'll hear on this 80th anniversary special was recorded in the Venetian Theater at Caramoor, the outdoor performance venue covered by a large white tent. We'll start with a concert by the Orchestra of St. Luke's. The Orchestra of St. Luke's has been Caramoor's orchestra in residence since 1979. This performance, recorded last summer, features a Beethoven piano concerto with guest soloist pianist Jeremy Denk.
[applause]
Elliott Forrest: Jeremy is one of the leading pianists of his generation, performing in recitals, chamber groups, and, of course, with the world's best orchestras. He joined the Orchestra of St. Luke's for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. The conductor is Thomas Wilkins.
[MUSIC - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4]
[applause]
Elliott Forrest: The Orchestra of St. Luke's with pianist Jeremy Denk and conductor Thomas Wilkins performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, recorded live at the Venetian Theater at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. We're celebrating the 80th anniversary of Caramoor, this beautiful performance venue in Westchester County. As we mentioned, Caramoor has a long history with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. OSL violist Dana Kelley told us about her fondness for the venue.
Dana Kelley: I love going to Caramoor. I've been going up there with different ensembles for almost 10 years now, and it's always a treat to go up during the summer to escape the city for a little bit. I think actually [chuckles] my favorite part about Caramoor is how unpredictable the weather can be because there's the tent over the main stage that we just play through everything.
I remember a concert, I think it was last summer of 2023, where it was pouring rain. We went up for a dress rehearsal in the morning, and it was pouring. We couldn't hear each other at all. People couldn't even tighten their bows. It was so humid. Then the rain stopped magically about 30 minutes before the concert. It was just like everyone was listening in a different way because we've been fighting for a couple of hours in the morning to just play. Then it was like, "Oh, the sky's cleared," and it was time for the music. There's always something that happens at Caramoor that makes you be on your toes, and I love that.
Elliott Forrest: Orchestra of St. Luke's violist Dana Kelley. We'll hear another work from the Orchestra of St. Luke's recorded last summer, an excerpt from Dvořák's Symphony No. 8. In this symphony, Dvořák was pulling from his own roots using rhythms from Bohemian dance. At the time that Dvořák composed this work, much of this region of Europe was dominated by Germanic language and governorship. It was important for Dvořák and other artists to retain their Czech identity in their work. Let's hear it now. The first two movements from-
[applause]
Elliott Forrest: -Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke's with conductor Thomas Wilkins at the Venetian Theater on this 80th anniversary special for Caramoor.
[MUSIC - Dvořák: Symphony No. 8]
Elliott Forrest: An excerpt from Antonin Dvořák. Symphony No. 8 performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke's and conductor Thomas Wilkins, recorded live at Caramoor. We're celebrating this unique performance space on their 80th anniversary. Coming up in the second half of this program, another ensemble that has a long history with Caramoor, The Knights. I'm Elliott Forrest.
[MUSIC - Beethoven Symphony No. 6: The Knights]
Colin Jacobsen: Caramoor is like stepping into another world. All of a sudden you find yourself in this Moorish style architecture, this beautiful house that the Rosens built and then there are incredible gardens surrounding it. It's only an hour away from the city, but you totally step into another world.
Elliott Forrest: That's Colin Jacobsen, a violinist, composer and co-artistic director of The Knights, a New York based chamber ensemble. Colin and his brother Eric Jacobsen started The Knights at their Brooklyn home by inviting friends over for late night chamber music reading parties. Two decades later, The Knights have a regular series at Carnegie Hall and venues around the city, including an annual performance at Caramoor.
I'm Elliott Forrest. For the second half of this special celebrating the 80th anniversary of Caramoor, we'll hear excerpts from a concert recorded last summer where The Knights played works by Mary Lou Williams and a Beethoven symphony. It seems fitting that The Knights chose the Symphony No. 6 of Beethoven. Much of the symphony, nicknamed the Pastoral, is a reflection on Beethoven's relationship with the natural world. With Caramoor set on beautiful grounds and expansive gardens, this symphony is the perfect complement to the outdoor venue. We spoke to Colin Jacobsen about this symphony.
Colin Jacobsen: In the first movement, I guess it's in the development, there are these swaths of landscape where he sticks with one idea, "Dum, pa, da, da, pa, pa, da, da, pa, pa," and you just feel these chords spreading out. To me it feels like early minimalism. It's like he doesn't have any need to develop that idea. He's just sitting with it, which for Beethoven is unusual. I think he's always developing ideas pretty quickly and changing face, but in this piece he really allows, with the nature theme, things to spread out in this really beautiful way.
Elliott Forrest: Knights co-founder and violinist, Colin Jacobsen. Let's hear the symphony now from the Venetian Theater at Caramoor. Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. His Pastoral, performed by The Knights and conducted by Eric Jacobsen.
[MUSIC - Beethoven Symphony No. 6: The Knights]
Elliott Forrest: Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 is Pastoral, played by The Knights at the Venetian Theater at Caramoor in Katonah, New York conducted by Eric Jacobsen. We're celebrating Caramoor's 80th anniversary on this special broadcast. I'm Elliott Forrest. Up next, more music from The Knights. We're going to hear an excerpt from composer Mary Lou Williams Zodiac Suite. Williams was a 20th century American composer who is hard to label. In 1964, she told The New Yorker magazine, "No one can put a style on me. I change all the time." Colin Jacobsen told us a little more about this revolutionary composer.
Colin Jacobsen: Mary Lou Williams is known as the first lady of the jazz piano in the 20th century and she was a bridge between the world of swing and bebop, and taught people like Thelonious Monk, was a great pianist herself and composer. She wrote 12 character pieces, these signs of the Zodiac, each one dedicated to a different jazz musician. There's a recording of herself doing them with her trio.
Then she had an opportunity to have a show at Town Hall in the '40s and have a full chamber orchestra, and she made these own arrangements herself. The character of each of these pieces is so clear and fun and whimsical and deep. We've been working with the pianist Aaron Diehl for a number of years and he really was doing a deep dive on the on these pieces.
Elliott Forrest: That's Night's co-founder Colin Jacobsen. Pianist Aaron Diehl has spent his career blurring the lines between classical and jazz, which makes him a perfect ambassador for this piece. Diehl and The Knights recorded this Zodiac Suite in 2023 and it received a Grammy nomination. It's the first ever studio recording of Mary Lou Williams Zodiac Suite. For this concert with The Knights at Caramoor, Diehl brought his trust trio; bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Aaron Kimmel. Here's an excerpt from Mary Lou Williams Zodiac Suite with the Aaron Diehl Trio and The Knights conducted by Eric Jacobsen, recorded live at the Venetian Theater at Caramoor.
[MUSIC - Mary Lou Williams Zodiac Suite: The Knights and Aaron Diehl Trio]
Elliott Forrest: That's a portion of the Zodiac Suite by composer Mary Lou Williams performed by The Knights with the Aaron Diehl Trio. Eric Jacobsen conducted the ensemble at Caramoor last summer. This has been an 80th anniversary special celebrating eight decades of music at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. You can find more information about the venue at caramoor.org.
A great thanks to Kathy Schuman, vice president and artistic director of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Also thanks to the Orchestra of St. Luke's and The Knights. The recording engineer was Noriko Okabe and WQXR's producer is Eileen Delahunty. I'm Elliot Forrest. This program is a production of WQXR in New York.
[01:58:49] [END OF AUDIO]
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