Almost 200 years ago, three musical icons performed New York’s first Italian opera, Don Giovanni, in lower New York. On May 23, they’re back.

Divaria Productions presents Don Giovanni in New York, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rioja Lírica. The unique production re-enacts events leading up to one of the earliest opera performances in the United States, 1826’s Don Giovanni.

The historical production celebrates the connection between Mozart’s librettist (and one of New York’s first Italian immigrants) Lorenzo da Ponte, Spanish bel canto expert Manuel Garcia and his daughter, opera diva Maria Malibran. On May 23, 1826, the three musicians performed Don Giovanni for the first time in America at the long-gone Park Theatre on Park Row in lower Manhattan. And a few weeks later, they reunited for a concert of sacred music at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the same historic space where Don Giovanni in New York will be performed on May 23, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.

Blending selections from the music of Don Giovanni with an original script based upon Da Ponte’s memoirs and Malibran’s and Garcia’s letters, Don Giovanni in New York tells the story of the three musical icons’ collaboration and their important contribution to Italian culture and the arts.