IAF Concert in America Oggi
The Italian Academy Foundation, Inc. November Gala Concert was featured in America Oggi, recounting the gala evening of song and music in which Ambassador Giorgio Radicati received the IAF Bravo! Award.
Amb. Giorgio Radicati applauded by 300 during Gala IAF Fall Concert
His new book recounts September 11th experiences here as Consul General
Ambassador Giorgio Radicati, former Italian Consul General in New York, received the Italian Academy Foundation’s Bravo! award marking the publication of his book “11 settembre; io c’ero”, on Saturday evening the 26th of November at New York’s Carnegie Hall. A gala concert featuring noted opera stars drew a glittering crowd to the famous New York concert hall. Ambassador Radicati received the award from Stefano Acunto, Chairman of the Foundation and responded by recounting some of his most memorable experiences following the attacks of 9/11, notably the playing of Va pensiero by Maestro Muti at Ground Zero, with a small contingent of only 15 musicians: “It was as if the music captured all the sadness and tears and lifted them up to the sky and erased them”, Radicati said in a moving and tear-filled recollection of his experience.
Min. Giorgio Radicati was born in Rome and received a degree in law from the University of
Rome in 1964. He joined the Foreign Service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967. He was
nominated Vice Consul in Ginevra in 1970 and then was assigned to the embassy in Brasilia in
charge of emigration and social affairs where, in 1976, he was promoted to the rank of Counsellor. On
May 1, 1977, he was re-assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, where he joined the office
of Technical Cooperation with Developing Countries.
In 1984, he was appointed First Counsellor of the embassy in Washington. In 1989, he was
promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary and confirmed in Washington as Minister Counsellor
until January 1991, when he was assigned to the Italian Embassy in Ankara.
In 1993, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was assigned to the Secretariat
General, responsible for its general management. He was nominated Consul General of Italy in New
York on November 1, 1998 and served in New York through 2003 whereupon he became Italy’s Ambassador in Prague through 2006 and then Ambassador to OSCE (Organizzazione per la Sicurezza e la Cooperazione in Europa) through 2008.
Among participating notables were: H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikat; Daniel Nigro,New York Fire Department Chief; Cav di Gran Croce Dominic Massaro, Hon Anniello Musella, Italian Trade Commissioner; Baronessa Maria Zerilli-Marimo and several guests from Rome including Ludovica Rossi Purini, Avv. Carlo Maccallini, and Carmine Siniscalco, proprietor of the S Gallery where Radicati’s art works commemorating 9/11 were displayed. Also present were Italian academic leaders such as Dott. Stefano Albertini of New York University, Director of the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo and Dott. Anthony Tamburri of CUNY,Chairman of the Calandra Institute.
The evening was marked by a most beautiful variety filled concert, originally scheduled as a solo piano recital but changed after a grave illness in the family of the pianist in Italy prevented his appearance.
The operatic styled program included these works: R. Rodgers: It’s a grand night…; Rachmaninov: I wait for thee sung by Yana Eminova; Donizetti: from L’elisir d’amore Una furtive lagrima sung by Francesco Pavesi, Catalani: from La Wally Ebben? Ne andro lontana sung by Rosa d’Imperio; Verdi’s Non t’accostare al urna sung by Stefanos Koroneos; Faure’s: Lidia and Clair de Lune as well as Mozart: from Le nozze di Figaro Voi che sapete sung by Annie Rosen; Mozart: from Don Giovanni La ci darem la mano sung by Rose d’Imperio and Stefano Koroneos. Part Two featured Rachmaninov: Lilacs Spring waters by Ms.Eminova, Donizetti: from La figlia del reggimento Ah! Mes amis and E. De Curtis: Non ti scordar di me sung by Mr. Pavesi, S. Rachmaninov: Prelude in C Sharp Minor Op. 3 No. 2 played by Dina Puruzhansky and Ms Pruzhansky’s original aria Wonderful Words and W. Balcom’s Amor sung by Annie Rosen, and Verdi: from Nabucco Donna chi sei? Sung by Rosa d’Imperio and Stefanos Koroneos. Steven Crawford accompanied the singers as did Ms. Pruzhansky.
Maestro Crawford, whose final season with the Metropolitan Opera included two performances of La Bohème of which one was his Sirius radio broadcast debut, is one of today’s most versatile opera conductors. While still a member of the conducting staff at the Met, his most recent projects included Faust, the world premiere of An American Tragedy, and the critically acclaimed revival of Cyrano. He recently conducted Kirke Meecham’s Tartuffe in Portland OR, and earlier La Cenerentola with the Cincinnati Opera, where he had been called “the find of the evening” for stepping in on twelve hours notice to conduct Il Barbiere di Siviglia, simultaneously accompanying the recitatives on the fortepiano.
An excellent symphonic conductor and proponent of contemporary music, Maestro Crawford was engaged by the New York Philharmonic as cover conductor for Maestro Kurt Masur for the American premiere of Minoru Miki’s Symphony for Two Worlds. During the ’98 season, he made his New York City conducting debut in the NYC City premiere of A Chekov Trilogy by Richard Wargo. Before leaving South Florida, he was asked to conduct the New World Symphony in the Concerto for Saxophone by Don Martino and returned the following year as guest soloist for the world premiere of John Nelson’s Fantasies and Flourishes, an interactive concerto for disklavier and orchestra.
Praised by Opera News, Mannheimer Morgen and by New York Newsday for her “agile and gleaming tone”, her “effortless dramatic soprano”, her “big, red-blooded, Italianate voice, and for her “impressive dramatic communication”, Rosa D’Imperio appeared this season as Abigaille in Nabucco with Taconic Opera, as Turandot with Teatro Lirico D’Europa, Opera New Hampshire, Vail Opera, Palm Dessert Opera and the Gold Coast Opera, as Lady Macbeth with Fresno Grand Opera and Opera Santa Barbara, as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West and as Elisabetta in Don Carlo with the Martha Cardona Theater in NYC, and, as Norma with Riverfront Opera. Recent career highlights in Europe and in the U.S. include principal roles in Nabucco, Attila, Aida, Otello, Oberto, La Forza del Destino, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Il Tabarro, Cavalleria Rusticana, Andrea Chenier, Die Aegyptische Helena, Les Contes de Hoffman, La Boheme, Adriana Lecouvreur, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and in the Zarzuelas Curro el de Lora (released on CD) and La Dolorosa, in Hamburg, Basel, Mannheim, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Sardinia, Tampa, Palm Beach, Cleveland, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Ft. Myers, New Rochelle, Puerto Rico, New York City, Ft. Pierce, Long Island and Connecticut.
Lyric soprano, Yana Eminova, called “the sweet songbird…” has toured the USA, Italy, Russia, England, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and Lithuania to great critical acclaim. Ms. Eminova’s appearances include Alice Tully Hall and Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, all three halls at Carnegie Hall, the Verbier Festival, Frankfurt Opera, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater, Kharkov Opera, Moscow State Conservatoire, Opera City Hall in Tokyo, and principal world embassies and cultural centers. Ms. Eminova has won 12 international competitions including 1st Prize at the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation competition. She is also a frequent guest on TV and Radio interviews, talk shows, live concerts, broadcasts and special programs in the US and abroad. Among her leading roles, Ms. Eminova numbers Violetta, Gilda, Susanna, Zerlina, Fanny (La Cambiale di Matrimonio), Snowmaiden, and Iolanta among others. In addition to her Operatic Repertoire, Yana has over 30 works in her Orchestral Repertoire; nearly 65 arias and more than 200 romances and songs.
Ms. Eminova is the co producer of “Centuries without War” and “Harmony of the Future” international performance works involving art, synthesis, and science. A New York resident, Ms. Eminova was graduated from the Moscow Conservatory.
Baritone Stefanos Koroneos made his debut in La Bohème at the Staatsoper in Freiburg, Germany. He has since then performed in theatres in Italy, Germany, Russia, Greece, Korea, Spain, Malta, Norway and Japan. Theatre appearances include Teatro alla Scala, the Rossini Opera Festival (Pesaro, Italy), The Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow),Palm Beach Opera, Teatro Reggio di Parma,Opera Orchestra of NY, Den Nye Opera, Giglio Lucca, Verdi Busetto, Sociale Rovigo, Livorno, Ravenna, Pisa (Italy), and the Athens Concert Hall (Greece). Mr. Koroneos’s repertoire includes Nabucco (Nabucco), Don Bartolo ( Il barbiere di Siviglia),Don Magnifico and Dandini (Cenerentola),Belcore and Dulcamara (Elisir d’amore), Marcello and Shaunard (La Boheme), Don Alvaro (Il viaggio a Reims), the Count and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Melitone (La forza del destino), Scarpia (Tosca), Sharpless (Madame Butterfly),, Escamillo (Carmen), Zeta ( The Merry Widow),Amonastro (Aida) and Tom ( Un ballo in maschera). He has worked with conductors such as R. Bonynge, G. Carella, A.Coppola,A. Veronesi,E. Queller, P. Steinberg, J. Cura, P. Olmi, G, Neuhold B. Aprea, Cor. Rovaris and M. Stefanelli and with directors such as F. Zeffirelli, P. L. Pizzi and E. Sagi. Recordings include Dynamic Records I Vespri Siciliani,live recording from Busseto, RAI Television (performance with Monserrat Caballé) and three operas for Sky International Channel. Mr. Koroneos has studied at the Rossini Opera Festival Academy in Pesaro as well as with Sesto Bruscantini.
Born in Parma, young Francesco Pavesi studied at the Conservatorio A.Boito di Parma and participated in courses at the Accademia Verdiana under the wing of Maestro Carlo Bergonzi. His graduation concert was held at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto. He studied in New York with Maestro Michael Paul and in Parma with the Soprano Lucetta Bizzi and the Master Eugene Furlotti. He has participated in numerous concerts and events, including the International Festival G. Paisiello in the city of Taranto the performance of Le nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Magnani. He has appeared as a soloist with the Chamber Choir of the Conservatorio in numerous national competitions and a concert held at the Auditorium Paganhini in Parma. Since 2009 he also gives concert lectures accompanied by Maestro Eugene Furlotti at the headquarters for the Opera of Parma at University of Parma. He recently made a television recording as a soloist for the BBC. He took part in the inaugural concert of the New Audtorium of the Grand Theatre of Torre del Lago Puccini Festival Orchestra Foundation. In May 2010 he debuted at the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago in the representation of Gianni Schicchi directed by Vivien A. Hewitt. In September 2010 he was invited by the Puccini Festival to take part in a concert held in the auditorium of the Grand Theatre of Torre del Lago for the opening of the international conference together with Andrea Bocelli and Ruggero Raimondi.
Award winning composer and virtuoso pianist Dina Pruzhansky moved to New York in 2006 from her native Azerbaijan, after growing up and studying in Israel as a scholarship winner in music and art history.
Enjoying a fast rising career, she has already appeared in solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States, Russia, Israel, Belgium and Germany, and has shared the stage with many leading artists, including the soloists of the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and the Israel Philharmonic. In New York alone, she has performed works of modern and classical composers, including her own compositions, at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Scandinavia House, The Ukrainian Institute, the Russian Permanent Mission to the U.N. Merkin Hall, Le Poisson Rouge and the Bechstein and Yamaha recital halls. Her ongoing recording commission: ‘Chopin Project: Rarities and Favorites’ is an emerging favorite on I-tunes. As a composer, Ms. Pruzhansky is a member of the TONY – honored BMI musical theater workshop and was selected as a finalist for the 2009 Fred Ebb Musical Theater Award, with her lyricist / collaborator Matt Schatz. Ms. Pruzhansky’s art songs were featured during the Russian Cultural Heritage Festival in New York and have been broadcast in twelve countries across the world. Her latest work, Fantasy for Strings, commissioned by ‘Bacchanalia’, will have its world premiere in Spring 2012. Ms. Pruzhansky holds a Masters Degree summa cum laude in piano performance and has recently completed post graduate studies in music at the Mannes College for Music. She holds a baccalaureate in Art History from the University of Tel Aviv
Mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen has been called an “excellent vocal soloist” by the New York Times and praised by OperaNews for her “dulcet, sweetly phrased” singing. This season she appears with Yale Opera as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and with the Yale Baroque Opera Project as Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Recent roles include La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and La Marchande in Les mamelles de Tirésias with Central City Opera; Dido in Dido and Aeneas with Yale Opera; Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Theater of Connecticut; and Alessandro (cover) in Tolomeo with Glimmerglass Opera. This summer she will join the Apprentice Artist program of Santa Fe Opera. Recent concert appearances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the New Haven Symphony, Britten’s Phaedra with the Yale Recital Orchestra, and Bach’s Mass in B minor with Cappella Cantorum of Connecticut. She is a 2011 District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She earned her B.A. with distinction in music from Yale College and her M.M. in vocal performance from the Mannes College of Music, where she was awarded the Shoshana Foundation’s Richard F. Gold Career Grant in 2010. She studies with Doris Cross at the Yale School of Music.
The concert was one of more than sixty produced by the Italian Academy Foundation at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
