CATCHING UP: OPERA INTALIANA Serenade at Sunset in Central Park New York

CATCHING UP: OPERA INTALIANA Serenade at Sunset in Central Park New York “ wows us and thousands of first-time listeners and fans of Opera. A magnificent evening outdoors and a Cultural initiative led by renowned conductor, Founder and Music Director Alvise Casellati. Held at the Naumberg Bandshell in New York City’s Central Park, the outdoor concert and special event was offered free to the public.

A crowd of thousands! came to see the special performance, which was MC’d by Chloe Melas, NBC News Entertainment Correspondent. The program for began with Giuseppe Verdi’s Hymn of the Nations, with the idea of melting national anthems of all countries to demonstrate that music unites everyone, and the Maestro united this piece with the US National Anthem.  The enthusiasm for this performance caused a standing ovation over many parts of this program, notably during the famous piece “Nessun Dorma” by Puccini which ends with the words “I will win”, when all singers sang all together, after the performance of the piece from Isaac Thomas, the 13-year old composer and of course, the William Tell overture.
 
During the performance, Maestro Casellati explained how important it is to see new compositions and hire living composers, work with the young musicians and pursue social responsibility projects such that of Opera Italiana working with the Music Therapy Departments of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, NY Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine.  In these projects, the Maestro stated, “Music elevates Opera to its ultimate most important goal: its ‘healing’ power”.

Special guest stars included internationally acclaimed American soprano Latonia Moore, and two of the most sought-after young talents: Chinese-Australian tenor Kang Wang and Georgean-Italian bass George Andguladze.  Opera Italiana further collaborates again with Juilliard’s Pre-College program.  This year, Maestro Casellati, in a blind competition, selected for the second time a composition by Isaac Thomas, a 12-year-old composer, whom the Maestro refers to as “the Mozart of our times”.  His composition “Echoes of the Land” premiered during this special evening. 

Opera Italiana is in the Air was created in 2017 in Central Park, New York, following a conversation between Daniele Bodini, Chairman of the FIAC Foundation, and Alvise Casellati, Conductor and former Secretary of FIAC. Since then, its success has been exponential and it has expanded from Central Park, New York to the cities of Washington and Miami and to the home of Opera in Italy: Naples, Milan and Rome.

Photo credits: PMC / Sylvain Gaboury

Video and social photos: Brigitte Segura @brigitte_segura.

 

Notable attendees included: Alvise Casellati, Chloe Melas, Latonia Moore, Kang Wang, George Andguladze, Isaac Thomas, Cesare Bieller, Deputy Consul General of Italy in NY,  Alessandra Oliva and Marta Mammana, Adjunct Consuls of Italy in NY, Fabio Finotti, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Daniele Bodini, Philanthropist and Chairman of the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, Kamel Ghribi, Philanthropist, President of GKSD Investment Holding & the European Council on Africa and the Middle East, Angelino Alfano, Italian former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal & Foreign Affairs, Nicola Baiocchi Country Manager of Intesa Sanpaolo, Gerald Kunde, Director of Ferrero North America, Azzurra Rinaldi representative of ENI in the USA, Maurizio Cuocci and Ilaria Ciaramella of Flower&Klein.

CATCHING UP: OPERA INTALIANA Serenade at Sunset in Central Park New York. @operaitalianaisintheair @alvisecasellati.

Photo credits: PMC / Sylvain Gaboury

Video and social photos: Brigitte Segura @brigitte_segura. #brigitteseguracurator.