Filmmaker launches new Verdi film at Park Slope’s Casa Duse
On the evening of Thursday, May 30, a large crowd arrived at Casa Duse to celebrate special clips of a new film entitled “27.” It was made to launch the bicentennial of the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) whose 27 operas are as inspiring and thrilling now as they were then.
Our host, architect, journalist and filmmaker August Ventura, told his guests that the Casa Duse, a limestone townhouse built in 1896 and located at 16 Prospect Park West, was purchased by the noted actor, artist and mentor to many, Martin Waldron. Waldron was a passionate opera lover and close friend of the incomparable soprano Zinka Milanov. He owned the house from 1958 until his death in 2009.
For decades, through Waldron’s largesse, diva Joan Sutherland and her husband, conductor Richard Bonynge, lived at the Casa Duse. Opera greats Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and others were frequent visitors here. The house was named after actress Eleanora Duse (1858-1924), Waldron’s godmother. Many letters, portraits and memorabilia of La Duse, Caruso, Toscanini, Giuseppe De Luca and countless other titans of Italian culture adorn the walls.
The residence is presently called the “Casa Duse Artists Collective” and is managed by our host emeritus Rob Krakovski, whose generosity allowed this evening to happen. Its mission is to encourage and nurture the performing arts in the spirit of Martin Waldron. Our host August Ventura, correctly called Casa Duse “a sacred place.”