A very special program featured both 2025 roster artists and alumni going back to the very beginnings of the company. The first half of the program centered around FRAUENLIEBE und -LEBEN as set by both Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe, surrounded by songs centering a woman’s 19th and early 20th century life. The journey transcended the traditional ideas of the Chamisso’s poetry, introducing hints of agency, identity and independence. The second half of the program featured repertoire by three NYC female composers near and dear to dell’Arte: Martha Sullivan, Valerie Saalbach, and Ellen Mandel. Martha is represented by a recent three song cycle “Chasing Light”. Andi Chinedu Nwoke, Antonina Ermolenko and Courtenay Budd Caramico, beloved alumni, sang these three modern experiences of women in the world, with Elisa Toro Franky as a dancer counterpart. Ellen Teufel presented Valerie Saalbach’s “Caterina to Camoens” cycle setting poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Clara Lisle will san two heart-warming and heart-wrenching settings of poetry by Seamus Heaney by Ellen Mandel. An entire evening of small treasures that added up to an unforgettable experience.
The Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian songbook) is a collection of translations of anonymous Italian poems into German by Paul Heyse (1830–1914), first published in 1860. Its rich vein of poetry has seams of love, intrigue, jealousy, musicians and their lovers, lullabyes and laments. Composers, most famous among them Hugo Wolf, were inspired to create wonderful, mostly miniature but hugely characterful songs. Our program augments Wolf’s famous settings with more by Joseph Marx, Hermann Goetz, and Arnold Mendelssohn (son of Felix’s cousin). Singers solo, in pairs, and in a trio weave stories from these songs for our audience to interpret for themselves. Who is the jilted? Is the the father too protective or the daughter too indulgent?
Born and raised between the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania farmland, Victoria Falcone found her voice at an early age amidst a soundscape of football games and alternative rock. She discovered her love of opera at age 9 and it has been the most joyful challenge to commit her life to this art form ever since.
With a rich mezzo-soprano voice and daring stage presence, Ms. Falcone feels at home in bel canto and Mozartian repertoire, as well as other favorite composers such as Berlioz, Debussy, and Vaughn Williams. Past roles have included covering Annio (La clemenza di Tito) and Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Golden-Mane (Adventures of Vixen-Sharp Ears), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), and Ottavia (L'incoronazione di Poppea).
A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, Victoria resides in New York City.
A very special program featured both 2025 roster artists and alumni going back to the very beginnings of the company. The first half of the program centered around FRAUENLIEBE und -LEBEN as set by both Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe, surrounded by songs centering a woman’s 19th and early 20th century life. The journey transcended the traditional ideas of the Chamisso’s poetry, introducing hints of agency, identity and independence. The second half of the program featured repertoire by three NYC female composers near and dear to dell’Arte: Martha Sullivan, Valerie Saalbach, and Ellen Mandel. Martha is represented by a recent three song cycle “Chasing Light”. Andi Chinedu Nwoke, Antonina Ermolenko and Courtenay Budd Caramico, beloved alumni, sang these three modern experiences of women in the world, with Elisa Toro Franky as a dancer counterpart. Ellen Teufel presented Valerie Saalbach’s “Caterina to Camoens” cycle setting poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Clara Lisle will san two heart-warming and heart-wrenching settings of poetry by Seamus Heaney by Ellen Mandel. An entire evening of small treasures that added up to an unforgettable experience.
The Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian songbook) is a collection of translations of anonymous Italian poems into German by Paul Heyse (1830–1914), first published in 1860. Its rich vein of poetry has seams of love, intrigue, jealousy, musicians and their lovers, lullabyes and laments. Composers, most famous among them Hugo Wolf, were inspired to create wonderful, mostly miniature but hugely characterful songs. Our program augments Wolf’s famous settings with more by Joseph Marx, Hermann Goetz, and Arnold Mendelssohn (son of Felix’s cousin). Singers solo, in pairs, and in a trio weave stories from these songs for our audience to interpret for themselves. Who is the jilted? Is the the father too protective or the daughter too indulgent?
Born and raised between the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania farmland, Victoria Falcone found her voice at an early age amidst a soundscape of football games and alternative rock. She discovered her love of opera at age 9 and it has been the most joyful challenge to commit her life to this art form ever since.
With a rich mezzo-soprano voice and daring stage presence, Ms. Falcone feels at home in bel canto and Mozartian repertoire, as well as other favorite composers such as Berlioz, Debussy, and Vaughn Williams. Past roles have included covering Annio (La clemenza di Tito) and Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Golden-Mane (Adventures of Vixen-Sharp Ears), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), and Ottavia (L'incoronazione di Poppea).
A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, Victoria resides in New York City.