I sang Cherubino [an adolescent boy, usually performed by a mezzo-soprano] when I was 17. Through the sheer effort of singing in Italian, which I hadn’t learned yet, I internalized the whole thing. I would walk around the house singing everyone’s part. Twenty years later, I was doing a show called Only an Octave Apart, with my friend the cabaret ar...

When: Mon, Oct 7, 2024 at 7:00 PM - Where: Livingston Public Library, 10 Robert H Harp Dr, Livingston, NJ, 07039 Few composers have inspired as deeply controversial reactions as Puccini. For many, Puccini’s operas remain the most beloved and popular. Many consider Turnadot to be the last great Italian opera from which comes the last great opera ari...

When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | 7:30 PM - Where: cSan Francisco Opera War Memorial Opera House - For this performance, Friends of the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco will be granted discounted tickets! Enter the code ICISFO30. The Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco together with San Francisco Opera are pleased to invite you...

Chicago Opera Theater is set to open its 2024-25 Season with the North American premiere of “Leonora.” The Italian opera composed by Ferdinando Paër to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa and Giacomo Cinti is based on the same story as Beethoven’s later opera “Fidelio.” According to musicologists, Beethoven was influenced by Paër while composing his...

The Washington National Opera’s “Turandot” was sold out at the Kennedy Center in the spring. This Saturday, you can see it free on the Nationals Park jumbotron during the 19th annual “Opera in the Outfield.” “It’s an annual tradition for us,” General Director Timothy O’Leary told WTOP. “It’s one of our favorite days of the year because it’s a gift...

New York City Opera presents a concert production of the perennial favorite Tosca as part of the Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America on August 24, 2024 at 7pm at Bryant Park, NYC in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passing of Giacomo Puccini, one of the greatest opera composers in history.  Entry is on a first-come, fi...

In the upcoming months, Nutley native Joe Lodato is ready to take on the stage once again. Renowned for his vocal prowess and captivating stage presence, the Italian-American baritone is emerging as one of the foremost interpreters of the Verdi baritone repertoire. Lodato’s voice has been praised for its “stunningly beautiful timbre, Italianate sna...

Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:00 PM. New Canaan Library, 151 Main St, New Canaan, CT. Puccini and the Twilight of The Operatic Golden Age. Born in Lucca, Italy and steeped in operatic tradition, Giacomo Puccini created operas that showcased a brilliance that made him a worthy successor to Verdi. In his talk, Professor Gil Harel will analyze the...

In the upcoming months, Nutley native Joe Lodato is ready to take on the stage once again. Renowned for his vocal prowess and captivating stage presence, the Italian-American baritone is emerging as one of the foremost interpreters of the Verdi baritone repertoire. Lodato’s voice has been praised for its “stunningly beautiful timbre, Italianate sna...

The widespread modern stereotype of the opera as elitist and stodgy stands in stark contrast to what audiences thought of it in mid-17th-century Venice. Back then, it was popular and breathtakingly new. “Taken together, it is one of the most magnificent diversions the wit of man can invent,” wrote the English diarist John Evelyn after seeing his fi...