Teatro Nuovo is an American

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

company and training institution specializing in the repertory and performance practice of

bel canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

opera. It was founded in 2017 by

Will Crutchfield Will Crutchfield (born 1957) is an American conductor, musicologist, and vocal coach. He is the founding Artistic and General Director of Teatro Nuovo, a company that presented its inaugural season in the summer of 2018 at State University of Ne ...

, who is currently its general and artistic director.

History

Teatro Nuovo was founded in 2017 to continue the work of Bel Canto at Caramoor after Crutchfield and the

Caramoor Summer Music Festival The Caramoor Summer Music Festival is a music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Ka ...

(where he was director of opera from 1997 to 2017) parted ways following his desire to expand the scope and offerings of the program.

Inaugural season

Teatro Nuovo presented its inaugural Bel Canto Festival in the Performing Arts Center at

Purchase College Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...

in July and August 2018, performing

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's ''

Tancredi ''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write ''Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (176 ...

'',

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pri ...

's ''

Medea in Corinto ''Medea in Corinto'' (''Medea in Corinth'') is an 1813 opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a ''melodramma tragico'' in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on t ...

'', and a second version of ''Tancredi'' featuring the eight alternative pieces Rossini composed after the premiere, which the company called ''Tancredi rifatto''. Like its predecessor, the program is accompanied by a multi-week training program for young singers, with a cohort of resident artists and studio artists led by a faculty that includes Crutchfield, Rachelle Jonck, Marguerite Krull, and Marco Nisticò. In its first season, several of the leading roles were sung by program members, joining guest soloists Jennifer Rowley, a bel canto at Caramoor alumna; Tamara Mumford; Amanda Woodbury; and Santiago Ballerini. In contrast to the Caramoor seasons, which were accompanied by the festival's resident Orchestra of St. Luke's, Teatro Nuovo formed a new 48-member orchestra playing on period instruments, seated according to the layout used at the Teatro di San Carlo of Naples in 1816, and revived the historical practice of performing conductorless orchestra, without a conductor. Instead, leadership was divided between the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

(Jakob Lehmann) and keyboard player (Crutchfield for ''Tancredi'', Jonathan Brandani for ''Medea''). This procedure has the effect of making the orchestra "a participating and listening ensemble, rather than an instrument to be played upon by a conductor."

Second season

Teatro Nuovo expanded its offerings in its second season:

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

's ''

La straniera ''La straniera'' (''The Foreign Woman'') is an opera in two acts with music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on the novel ''L'Étrangère'' (2 vols, 1825) by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt, although ...

'', Rossini's ''

La gazza ladra ''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a ''melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigni ...

'', and a concert pairing Rossini's '' Stabat Mater'' with

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's Symphony in E minor. Performances in the second season again took place at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, but also within New York City at

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orches ...

's Frederick P. Rose Hall and the

Church of the Heavenly Rest The Church of the Heavenly Rest is an Episcopal church located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 90th Street, opposite Central Park and the Carnegie Mansion, on the Upper East Side of New York City. The church is noted for the architecture of it ...

The critically acclaimed period-instrument orchestra returned for the second season. During the summer of 2019, Jakob Lehmann was named Associate Artistic Director.

2020 season

For 2020, Teatro Nuovo announced revivals of Rossini's ''Maometto secondo'' and ''Il vero omaggio'' along with the modern premiere of Donizetti's ''Miserere in G minor'' in its original Viennese version of 1843. Upon the nationwide shutdown of live performances due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Teatro Nuovo announced that its planned 2020 season would be carried over to the 2021 festival. On September 15, 2020, Teatro Nuovo released the first-ever complete recording of

Nicola Vaccai Nicola Vaccai (15 March 1790 – 5 or 6 August 1848) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher. Life and career as a composer Born at Tolentino, he grew up in Pesaro, and studied music there until his parents sent him ...

’s “Practical Method of Italian Singing,” led by Will Crutchfield and featuring 22 singers including Santiago Ballerini,

Lawrence Brownlee Lawrence Brownlee (born November 24, 1972) is an American operatic tenor particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire. Describing his voice, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, said: "There are other singers that sing ...

, Teresa Castillo, Junhan Choi, Georgia Jarman, Alisa Jordheim, Hannah Ludwig, Christine Lyons, Megan Marino, Dorian McCall, Madison Marie McIntosh,

Angela Meade Angela Meade (born 1977) is an American operatic soprano. Life and career Born in Centralia, Washington, Meade started her education at Centralia Community College before going on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from Pacific Luther ...

, Tamara Mumford,

Lisette Oropesa Lisette Oropesa (born September 29, 1983) is an American operatic soprano of Cuban ancestry. She has a wide repertoire that includes works from Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet and Puccini. With her lyric ...

, Daniel Mobbs, Jennifer Rowley, Nicholas Simpson,

Michael Spyres Michael Spyres is an American operatic baritenor. He is particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire, especially the works of Rossini, and heroic roles in French grand opera. Biography Michael Spyres was born in 1979 in Missouri, US, and ...

, Derrek Stark, Alina Tamborini, Hans Tashjian, and Meigui Zhan

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the new venture emphasized the orchestral innovations. The critic of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' wrote that "the effect was transformative," and the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' headlined its review, "this is how it should be done."

References

{{authority control New York (state) opera companies Organizations established in 2017 2017 establishments in New York City