Castleton Festival 2012

The Castleton Festival, the month-long series of opera performances and concerts staged on the grounds of the Rappahannock County estate of conductor Lorin Maazel and his wife, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, returns for its fourth season, running from June 22 to July 22.

This summer’s highlights are productions of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” Bizet’s “Carmen” and Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” as well as concerts featuring violinist Jennifer Koh and mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and Castleton Festival Orchestra performances of Beethoven’s Ninth and Mahler’s First symphonies and the premiere of a Cello Concerto by the Washington-based composer Máximo Flügelman.

The Seldom Scene, the famed bluegrass band, will perform on July 3 in an open-air concert with fireworks.

Most performances will be staged in the 130-seat Theater House and the Festival Theatre on the Castleton grounds.

Two concerts will be presented at Merchants Hall of the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas: “Gershwin and Company: an All-American Evening,” with pianist Kevin Cole, on June 18; and a concert version of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” reprised from last summer’s production, on July 7. For information on those events, visit http://www.hyltoncenter.org/

Maazel, the former music direrctor of the New York Philharmonic, founded the Castleton Festival as a professional training venture for young singers, instrumentalists and stage technicians. More than 200 will live on the estate, rehearse and perform during the 2012 festival. This summer, Rutgers University and Castleton will offer fellowships and course credits to dozens of festival participants.

The production of “A Little Night Music” is designed especially for a new troupe, the Castleton Artists Training Seminar (C.A.T.S.), directed by Levi Hammer.

Tickets for most performances range from $20 to $120, and subscription packages are available for three or six performances. For details, call the Castleton concierge at (866) 974-0767 or visit http://www.castletonfestival.org/

The 2012 Castleton schedule:

June 22 (7:30 p.m.) – Opening concert: “An Italian Extravaganza,” with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves.

June 23 (7 p.m.) – Rossini: “The Barber of Seville.”

June 24 (2 p.m.) – Castleton Festival Orchestra, Lorin Maazel conducting. Mahler: Symphony No. 1; Máximo Flügelman: Cello Concerto (premiere) (Inbal Segev, cello).

June 28 (8 p.m., Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas) – Castleton Festival Orchestra, Lorin Maazel conducting, with pianist Kevin Cole. “Gershwin and Company: an All-American Evening.”

June 29 (7:30 p.m.) – “The Barber of Seville.”

June 30 (2 p.m.) – “Stars of the Future.”

June 30 (7 p.m.) – Bizet: “Carmen.”

July 1 (2 p.m.) – “The Barber of Seville.”

July 3 (7 p.m.) – The Seldom Scene, concert with fireworks.

July 6 (7:30 p.m.) – “Carmen.”

July 7 (2 p.m.) – Castleton Festival Orchestra & Chorus, Lorin Maazel conducting. Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) (soloists TBA).

July 7 (8 p.m., Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas) – Lorin Maazel conducting. Puccini: “La Bohème.”

July 8 (2 p.m.) – “Carmen.”

July 13 (7:30 p.m.) – Sondheim: “A Little Night Music” (C.A.T.S. performers).

July 14 (2 and 7 p.m.) – “A Little Night Music” (C.A.T.S. performers).

July 15 (2 p.m.) – “A Little Night Music” (C.A.T.S. performers).

July 20 (7:30 p.m.) – Song recital (C.A.T.S. performers).

July 21 (3 p.m.) – Song recital (C.A.T.S. performers).

July 21 (7 p.m.) – Jennifer Koh, violin.

July 22 (2 p.m.) – “Spectacular Opera Scenes” (C.A.T.S. performers).