NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

For more than 30 years the New York Grand Opera has given over 150 performances of some 40 operas to approximately 2 million audience members. The company made its debut with La Bohème in 1973 in the grand ballroom of the Riverside Plaza Hotel (West 73rd Street), conducted by founder Vincent La Selva. Since then it has performed not only such standards as Aida, Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, but also rarities such as an unfamiliar La Bohème by Leoncavallo and Verdi’s little-known Stiffelio, both in their American premieres.

The company is also responsible for the first staged performances in the U.S. of Verdi’s operas Giovanna d’Arco and Oberto, as well as the first New York performance in more than 125 years of his I Masnadieri. With the exception of comic operas, which are sung in English, all performances by the company are performed in the original language.

Numerous Metropolitan Opera singers—Lucine Amara, Gabriella Tucci, Enrico di Giuseppe, Frank Guarrera, Isola Jones, Theodore Lambrinos and others—have appeared as guests of the New York Grand Opera over the years, though the company’s casts consist mainly of talented artists not yet widely known among the general public. 

In addition to performing free outdoors in Central Park's Naumburg Bandshell in the summer, the company performs throughout the year in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and Co-Op City in the Bronx.

• Disability Access: Outdoor venue is wheelchair accessible, but there are seats.