Casa Italiana Commissioned Opera Opens on May 8 | Casa Italiana Zerilli / Marimò

Casa Italiana Commissioned Opera Opens on May 8

A Sweet Silence in Cremona poster

Since the pandemic began in the Spring of 2020, we at Casa Italiana have focused more and more on original content created beyond the walls of 24 West 12th Street, from the development of new webseries to the filming of short films, and from the production of documentaries to the commissioning of new works of art.

Our latest of these commissions - which we share with our colleagues at NYU Florence - is a new opera by our coposer-in-residence Roberto Scarcella PerinoA Sweet Silence in Cremona, which will receive its world premiere on May 8, 2022, in Cremona, in an international co-production by the Center for Contemporary Opera and the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli.

With a libretto by Mark CampbellA Sweet Silence in Cremona is a comic opera in one act for six lead singers and chamber orchestra inspired by an event that occurred in 2019, when the streets surrounding the city's auditorium were cordoned off by the police to avoid any unnecessary noise in order to allow the digital recording of the sounds of the precious musical instruments collected in the Museo del Violino (which features a collection of historic instruments by renowned luthiers such as Stradivari, Amati, Guarnieri etc.). More info on that can be found in this article from the New York Times.

The world premiere is conducted by Giuseppe Bruno in his Teatro Ponchielli debut and directed by Cecilia Ligorio.

We are currently working on the work's American premiere to be held during the 2022-23 season.

For more information about the world premiere of A Sweet Silence in Cremona, click here.

Here is a sneek peak we organized in November, 2020, featuring the composer and the librettist: