VIVA VERDI! All twenty-eight of the grand operas composed by Giuseppe Verdi are being
performed for the first time in the order in which they were written in an unprecedented
seven-year festival by New York Grand Opera, under the The seven-year festival, called "Viva, Verdi! ", is under the direction of Maestro La Selva, the American-born and American-trained conductor who has been a resolute champion of the Bussetto master for more than three decades and has been responsible for the American and New York premieres of many of the lesser-known Verdi operas. Four Verdi operas will be presented each summer from 1994 through 2000 to constitute its regular seasons for those years in Central Park, where New York Grand Opera has been performing annually since 1974. As with all 135 performances by New York Grand Opera in Central Park so far -- attended by more than 1,000,000 people -- all twenty-eight of the Verdi operas will be fully staged, with sets, costumes, full orchestra and chorus and ballet where required, and will be offered to the public entirely free of charge. New York Grand Opera is the only New York company presenting fully-staged grand opera free of admission charge. Of the twenty-eight operas composed by Giuseppe Verdi between 1837 and 1893, eleven are already in New York Grand Opera's repertoire and two of the remaining seventeen -- Alzira, composed in 1845, and Jerusalem, composed in 1848 -- will be given their first fully-staged New York performances with orchestra by New York Grand Opera during the course of the seven-year "Viva, Verdi!" Festival. The 1994 New York Grand Opera season opened with Verdi's first opera, Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio, which was composed in 1837 (and was given its first New York performance with orchestra by La Selva in l986). Un Giorno di Regno, written in l840; Nabucco, written in l841; and I Lombardi, written in 1843, completed the Festival's first season. Ernani, I Due Foscari, Giovanna d'arco (which New York Grand Opera staged for the first time in the United States in 1976) comprised the 1995 New York Grand Opera summer season; with Alzira (in what is believed to be its first American staging with full orchestra), Attila, Macbetto and I Masnardieri scheduled for 1996. The 1997 season will include Jerusalem (in its first New York staging), II Corsaro, (staged for the first time in the United States by New York Grand in 1987), La Battaglia di Legnano, Luisa Miller and Stiffelio (the last given its U.S. premiere by New York Grand in 1976). Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata and I Vespri Siciliani are scheduled
for 1998; Simon Boccanegra, Aroldo (given its first New York staging by New York Grand
Opera in 1993), Un Ballo in Maschera and La Forza del In order that all twenty-eight operas may actually be performed in the order of their composition, arrangements are being made by New York Grand Opera for a rain postponement date within the week of each scheduled performance. New York Grand Opera's performance of the great Requiem composed by Verdi in memory of his friend, the towering Italian literary figure Alessandro Manzoni, will appropriately be presented on January 27, 2001, the 100th anniversary of the date of Verdi's own death, at an indoor venue to be announced. For this occasion Maestro La Selva plans to use an expanded chorus of 1000 or more voices.ll twenty-eight of the grand operas composed by Giuseppe Verdi are being performed for the first time in the order in which they were written in an unprecedented seven-year festival by New York Grand Opera, under the direction of Vincent La Selva. Beginning in July of 1994 and the festival will culminate with a performance of the monumental Messa da Requiem, considered by many to be Verdi's greatest "opera," on January 27, 2001, the exact 100th anniversary of the great Italian composer's death. Dime Savings Bank of New York, which sponsored the recently-concluded twenty second anniversary summer season of New York Grand Opera, will continue its sponsorship of the company, making possible this historic project. The seven-year festival, called "Viva, Verdi! ", is under the direction of Maestro La Selva, the American-born and American-trained conductor who has been a resolute champion of the Bussetto master for more than three decades and has been responsible for the American and New York premieres of many of the lesser-known Verdi operas. Four Verdi operas will be presented each summer from 1994 through 2000 to constitute its regular seasons for those years in Central Park, where New York Grand Opera has been performing annually since 1974. As with all 135 performances by New York Grand Opera in Central Park so far -- attended by more than 1,000,000 people -- all twenty-eight of the Verdi operas will be fully staged, with sets, costumes, full orchestra and chorus and ballet where required, and will be offered to the public entirely free of charge. |