Opera Theater

What the Media and Critics are saying about the Amato Opera

Tony and Sally Amato are the two most inspiring people I think I've almost ever met. They bring to their life and their work, a passion, a love, and a deep abiding respect for the creative process that I think is utterly infectious and completely inspiring to be around. They made me and my crew feel good to be alive. We looked forward to every day we got a chance to go and film next to them. They bring so much love to what they do that you just can't help but be somehow ennobled by their presence. I have said that they make me feel young at heart and unafraid of growing old and that's about as beautiful a compliment as I think I can pay to anybody.
Stephen Ives, Filmaker, "Amato: A Love Story with Opera" (PBS)

Amato Opera plays in a tiny opera house where everything tells. Anthony Amato, the conductor and producer of the enterprise, is an instinctual genius. a born interpreter of 19th-century Italian opera. He gets the tempi, the rubato, exactly right. He should surely be conducting at the Met. And in Richard Cerullo he has a designer who works wonders on a shoestring, and clothes 19th-century operas in apt, attractive scenery.
Andrew Porter

The Amato Opera House is a splendid example of enterprise in the unlikely purlieus of its tiny theatre on the Bowery. The performances have good standards; the casts are young and energetic and the seats are truly inexpensive. In fact, in many ways this is what opera really is about - and such surroundings clearly demonstrate that away from chi-chi environments, opera can stimulate curiosity, awe, entertain and communicate.
David Frost

Aida: "...everything is proportioned for the space. The cloth backdrops can give a feeling of expanse, and though there is no doubting the obviousness of the artifice - there is no pretense here to verismo stagecraft - everything was worked on with such taste an care that Verdi seemed not only to survive, but also even now and then to thrive."
Edward Rothstein, N.Y. Times

Aroldo: "I attended seven performances at the Metropolitan this season...none could compare with this Aroldo...It was stirringly sung, staged with great beauty and imagination, and vigorously conducted by Anthony Amato
Opera (London Publication)

Barber of Seville: "The Feisty Amato Opera - as intimate as the Met is grandioso, revels endearingly in the contrast".
James R. Oestreich, N.Y. Times

Die Fledermaus: "Anthony Amato's directorial concepts and Richard Cerullo's scenic designs delightfully overflow the bounds of the tiny stage. And good humor abounds, as in a cute little light show during the overture."
James R. Oestreich, N.Y. Times

La Bohème: "One might reasonably doubt the prospects of an Amato "Bohème." But it was the Amato at its best - often the chamber version (a keyboardist and a few wind and brass players) was refreshingly transparent...Anthony Amato presented a thoughtfully choreographed staging that put the theater's resources to efficient use, and his brisk pacing kept even the static third act from dragging."
Allan Kozinn, N.Y. Times

Magic Flute: "There are many paths to Mozart's Magic Flute....The Amato Opera's endearingly modest and inventive production shows the work's resilience...Anthony Amato, the company's conductor and stage director, and Richard Cerullo, its set and costume designer, invariably find ingenious ways to present complicated works...There is always a sense of joy and devotion in the Amato Opera's performances.
Allan Kozinn, N.Y. Times

Rigoletto: "Anthony Amato conducted with complete assurance, and the overall spirit of the production was irresistibly lively"
Alex Ross, N.Y. Times

Rigoletto: "Amato Comes of Age. The current Rigoletto is something I certainly didn't anticipate - a really good professional production. I have seen lesser ones at San Carlo in Naples. Anthony Amato, conductor and general factotum, has turned out a dozen young singers over the years who wound up at the Met and 15 at the City Opera. Saturday's cast had some excellent people. In fact, there were no bad signers in the entire cast of 12 - a rare experience in off-Lincoln Center Opera.
Ron Eyer, New York Daily News

Un Ballo in Maschera: "The illusion was virtually complete. Never have I spent a more fascinatingly rewarding session at the opera."
David Gyger, Opera Australasia, Australia

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