Anthony Roth Costanzo, Countertenor & Bryan Wagorn, Piano

The delightfully funny and engaging Princeton graduate Anthony Roth Costanzo will change your idea of countertenors when he returns to his alma mater to take the stage, now “a bona-fide star,” according to The New Yorker. While the major part of his repertoire consists of works written for castrati, Costanzo prefers to evoke Frankie Valle, the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and Prince as singers who employed their upper registers to no small advantage. Costanzo says he simply has “a more reinforced, operatic style than they did.” Rather than confine himself to the standard countertenor fare, Costanzo revels in branching out. “A recital provides a rare opportunity for me to explore my musical and artistic self,” he tells us. “Unlike opera, art songs are less often written for a specific voice type, and thus are commonly transposed to fit a particular singer’s tessitura. Duparc’s lush and ardent filigree, Liszt’s romantic and nuanced melodies— these are joys I don’t get to explore on the opera stage, but ones that have a unique resonance in the countertenor voice and to me personally. What I have learned in my opera career translates in fascinating and wonderful ways to the romantic repertoire, and even to songs by Gershwin.” Singing “I Got Rhythm,” this versatile artist might just tap dance his way into your heart.

PLUS THERE’S MORE…

MASTERCLASS WITH ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO
Monday, May 4, 2015 at 7:00PM
Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall

Select Princeton singers work with Anthony Roth Costanzo.  Free and open to the public.