Who Doesn't Love Whiskey Tastings and Classical Music in a Catacomb?

Christina and Michelle Naughton \ Credit: Lisa Marie Mazzucco

Christina and Michelle Naughton \ Credit: Lisa Marie Mazzucco

The Angel’s Share, the acclaimed new concert series by Unison Media and The Green-Wood Historic Fund which features opera and chamber music concerts in Green-Wood’s remarkable Catacombs, will continue in August with programs by harpist Bridget Kibbey and twin sister piano duo Christina and Michelle Naughton. The series, which kicked off in June with the world premiere of David Hertzberg’s chamber opera The Rose Elf directed by R. B. Schlather, was praised by The New York Observer as being “everything you want opera to be...[it] shocked, confounded, disturbed, and, in the end, exalted.”

Bridget Kibbey will lead a crack team of string players August 6 & 7, including violinists Chad Hoopes and Grace Park, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Mihai Marica. The ensemble will perform a tightly-integrated program that begins with Debussy’s Danses Sacrée et Profane, and culminates in Caplet’s gripping Conte Fantastique, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death

Sisters Christina and Michelle Naughton celebrate the 100th birthday of Green-Wood “permanent resident” Leonard Bernstein with performances August 25 (Bernstein's actual birthday!), 26, & 27, playing a program that begins with Lenny before alternating between American and French composers, including Ravel’s shimmering Ma mère l'Oye, Nancarrow’s Sonatine, Debussy’s En Blanc et Noir, and more.

The series takes its name from the distiller’s term for whiskey that evaporates while maturing in the barrel, thus going to the angels. Accordingly, each performance will begin with a pre-concert reception with food, drinks, and a whiskey tasting overlooking the Manhattan skyline and the New York Harbor at sunset. At dusk, guests will then follow a candle-lit pathway down to the Catacombs for the performance. Whiskey sponsors for the August performances include Virgil Kaine Lowcountry Whiskey Co., Stillhouse Van Brunt, and Five & 20.

Later performances on the series include the JACK Quartet playing their Modern Medieval program, and pianist and composer Gregg Kallor reprising his acclaimed setting of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and also giving the world premiere of a new cantata based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 Gothic novel, Frankenstein, in partnership with On Site Opera and featuring the extraordinary mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano.

The Angel’s Share follows Unison Media’s acclaimed Crypt Sessions, which debuted at the Church of the Intercession in Harlem in 2015. The intimate performances have generated unprecedented attention, with tickets selling out within minutes of the on-sale date. The New York Times included one of last year’s Crypt Sessions on its list of the “Best Classical Music Performances of 2017.” 

Tickets and more info.

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