An Italian opera company restages an oratorio last performed in 1826. Organized by Mozart’s librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, the 1826 event changed America’s cultural landscape with the introduction of Italian opera to New York City.
EPISODE 1
Da Ponte's Oratorio: A Concert for New York
A performance in 1826 at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral changed America’s cultural landscape with the introduction of Italian opera to New York City. Lost to history for almost 200 years, the program was recently rediscovered and restaged by an Italian opera company, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, featuring the music of Cimarosa and Zingarelli along with that of Haydn, Handel, and Arne.
