CORRECTION.

I have been informed by Mr. Crutchfield that amplification was not used during the performance of Semiramide:

"Caramoor does have a sound system, but it is used only in the case of thunderstorms. We were ready to turn it on if necessary during Semiramide, but as the threatened storms never broke, it remained unused; so far (fingers crossed) we have never turned it on during a Caramoor opera performance...

We are lucky to have a good natural acoustic under the Venetian Theater's tent, and want to make sure your readers know that they can count on hearing natural sound at Caramoor; amplification is used only for pops concerts and as a last resort under adverse weather conditions."

The ceiling of the tent at Caramoor has many intersecting planes. This must have affected what I heard.