Italian Duo Revisits Da Ponte's Mozart Legacy
Pianist Francesco Attesti and vocalists Valentina Piovano and Giulio Boschetti staged a program on librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte at New York's Italian Cultural Institute.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Classical
Pianist Francesco Attesti and vocalists Valentina Piovano and Giulio Boschetti performed "Lorenzo Da Ponte, Genio veneto: The Art of Words between Mozart and Salieri" on November 5 at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. The program followed a prior-evening performance at Stony Brook University's Staller Center for the Arts.
Why it matters
The program traces the working relationship between Da Ponte and composers Mozart and Salieri, placing a New York stage at the center of a restored look at Da Ponte's Vienna-era collaborations. It also highlights the libretto tradition that shaped opera's dramatic language.
The program covers Da Ponte's life from his early-1780s Vienna years through his 1825 arrival in New York, a span that includes his work on The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Attendance figures and any further performance dates were not reported.
The players
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Italian librettist who wrote for Mozart on The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte before emigrating to America and teaching at Columbia University.
Italian Cultural Institute
New York cultural institution that hosted the core performance and was introduced by its director, Claudio Pagliara.
The details
Vocalists Piovano and Boschetti performed selections while Attesti provided musical foundation and commentary, using gestures and interaction on a bare stage to convey the characters and situations behind the music. The Italian Cultural Institute's director, Claudio Pagliara, introduced the program, which was created with support from the City of Vittorio Veneto.
Timeline
Early 1780s: Da Ponte arrives in Vienna and works with Mozart and Salieri.
1805: Da Ponte arrives in Philadelphia.
1825: Da Ponte arrives in New York and becomes Columbia University's first professor of Italian literature.
November 4, 2026: Program performed at Stony Brook University's Staller Center for the Arts.
November 5, 2026: Program performed at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.
Historical Thread
The program returns to Da Ponte's Vienna collaborations with Mozart, the period that produced The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. It reframes that work through the librettist's later life in New York.
Audiences in New York had the chance to attend the program at the Italian Cultural Institute, which followed a Stony Brook University performance the night before. The extraction does not list future dates or ticket details.
The takeaway
The program shows how a librettist's words can carry a story as much as the music does, with performers relying on gesture and interaction on a bare stage. Audiences can consider how the libretto shaped the operas they already know.
Further reading
Explore more Classical coverage to see how Da Ponte's libretti continue to shape opera performance.
Source note: This article includes information reported by La Voce di New York.
