Organization

Conductor

Jonathan Brandani

Singer

Baritone

Mattia Venni

Crispino

Soprano

Teresa Castillo

Annetta

Mezzo-soprano

Liz Culpepper

La Comare

Dorian McCall

Fabrizio

Tenor

Toby Bradford

Contino del Fiore

Bass

Vincent Grana

Mirabolano

Bass-baritone

Scott Clark

Asdrubale

Jeremy Luis Lopez

Bortolo

Abigail Lysinger

Lisetta

Others

Teatro Nuovo Chorus

Orchestra

Teatro Nuovo Orchestra

Teatro Nuovo

Crispino e la comare -  (Crispino and the Fairy Godmother)

New York City

United States

Rose Theater

Montclair

Alexander Kasser Theater

Public

Crispino and the Fairy Godmother

Approved

Crispino e la comare Ricci

If you ask operagoers how many Italian comedies they can think of between Don Pasquale (1843) and Falstaff (1893), most would have to answer “none.” Did one of Italy’s most beloved traditions simply disappear for a full half-century? 

Of course it didn’t; the comic theaters were busy and full of successes. The problem is simply that none of the new composers established a long enough hold on the public to be remembered today. Only Verdi did that, in those years, and Verdi stayed away from opera buffa until the very end.

Quite a few of the others were very good, however, and their best pieces combine the sparkle inherited from Rossini and Donizetti with the intriguing new harmonies and orchestral colors of the later Romantics. 

Two of the best were the Ricci brothers from Naples, Luigi (1805-1859) and Federico (1809-1877). Between them they produced 49 operas, comic and serious alike. Mostly they worked separately, but on four occasions they helped each other out to fill a commission. One of those was Crispino e la Comare, their biggest “hit” among many. 

The libretto was by Francesco Maria Piave, author of La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Forza del Destino and so many others for Verdi.

English

Crispino and the Fairy Godmother by Ricci, Luigi, From (2023/2023), Conductor Jonathan Brandani, Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair, United States

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Reviews

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues