Teatro Grattacielo to Present LA VESTALE at the Gerald Lynch Theater in October

Teatro Grattacielo will continue its 2022-23 Season with the grandeur of Spontini's La Vestale starring Indra Thomas as Giulia and Tahanee Aluwihare as La Gran Vestale on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College. This rare and captivating opera, paired with mesmerizing visual arts, promises an unforgettable evening that honors Maria Callas' legacy and showcases the power of artistic collaboration. To purchase tickets, visit grattacielo.org/buy-tickets.

LA VESTALE holds a special place in the history of opera, as it was the opera that Maria Callas performed on Teatro Alla Scala's opening night in 1954. To honor her legacy and contributions to the world of music, we are bringing back the historic 1954 version of this opera, directed by the celebrated Italian film director, Luchino Visconti. And in the spirit of pushing boundaries to creating a unique artistic experience, Teatro Grattacielo has decided to combine its world of opera with that of the visual arts. They will partner with visual artist Lydia Venieri who will create stunning tableaux that complement the opera's themes and elevate the overall artistic experience, making this production of LA VESTALE an immersive and unforgettable event.

CREATIVE TEAM

CHRISTIAN CAPOCACCIA | Conductor

STEFANOS KORONEOS | Director

Jason Tramm | Chorus Master

LYDIA VENIERI | Multidisciplinary Artist | Sets and Costumes

​CAST

INDRA THOMAS | Giulia

THOMAS KINCH | Licinio

TAHANEE ALUWIHARE | La Gran Vestale

KYLE OLIVER | Cinna

ERIC LINDSEY | Il Sommo Sacerdote

RICK AGSTER | Un Aruspice

HYUNSOON KIM | Un Console

The Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra

The project is under the auspices of Consulate General of Greece, New York.

About Teatro Grattacielo

Teatro Grattacielo is unique in New York City. With a full symphonic orchestra and chorus, world-class soloists and repertoire that is first-rate (albeit unfamiliar), its performances yearly have been an event that has been dear to the hearts of operaphiles since 1994.

Teatro Grattacielo's performances of operas that held the European stages from the 1820s 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, Il Piccolo Marat, and Iris, Montemezzi's L'Amore dei Tre Re, L'Incantesimo, and Risurrezione, as well as 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 had not been seen in the U.S. since 1919, and which was performed by the Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra conducted by Maestro Israel Gursky, in a specially reconstructed version taken from the composer's manuscript.

In 2019, Teatro Grattacielo presented a Gala of Verismo works for its 25th Anniversary Concert. In 2020 has filmed Umberto Giordano's Fedora in collaboration with Global Vision and Beniamino Gigli, 100 YEARS at the Met, a dedication to great tenor Beniamino Gigli who's Met debut occurred 100 years ago on November 26th 1920. Both productions are streaming on our website.

For more information, visit grattacielo.org.

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