Teatro Grattacielo
2 Riverside Drive
2C
New York, NY
10023
212-595-7127
About
Us
Teatro Grattacielo is unique in New York. With full symphonic orchestra and chorus, world-class soloists and repertoire that is first-rate (albeit unfamiliar), its single, concert-style performance yearly has been an event that is dear to the hearts of operaphiles since 1994.
Teatro
Grattacielo's performances of operas that held the Italian stage from
the 1890s to 1930s—yet many of which failed to find root in the
international operatic repertoire—demonstrate that these works
have a rare beauty that is only difficult to appreciate because they
are so seldom heard. Such rarities as I Cavalieri di Ekebù,
Riccardo Zandonai's operatic treatment of Selma Lagerlöf's Pulitzer
Prize winning novel "The Saga of Gösta Berling," caused
a sensation in the audience, most of whom had never known that this
intense, heartfelt music drama existed, and were privileged to hear
it with little chance of it being performed again soon.
Other operas, such as Mascagni's Guglielmo Ratcliff and Iris, Montemezzi's L'Amore dei Tre Re, and Giordano's La Cena Delle Beffe amply show that the verismo movement extended far beyond the boundaries of the familiar warmth of Puccini, in a rich and varied tapestry of emotionally-charged music drama.
For its 18th season, Teatro Grattacielo presented Italo Montemezzi''s lyrical masterpiece, La Nave, adapted from the play by Gabriele d'Annunzio, which has not been seen in the U.S. since 1919, and which wase performed by the Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra conducted by Maestro Israel Gursky, in a specially reconstucted version taken from the composer's manuscript. (See our reviews)
Mission
Teatro
Grattacielo's mission is to promote the performances of those works
in the Italian operatic repertoire that are rarely heard in the United
States. Through performances at Alice Tully Hall, educational outreach
and informal lecture-concerts, Teatro Grattaciello provides emerging
artists and opera enthusiasts with the opportunity to become familiar
with lesser-known repertoire and Italian performance style, thus promoting
the expansion and appreciation of the Italian operatic tradition.