Husband-wife team set for night of Italian opera
BY KRISTINE TANGEL Correspondent

Annamaria Stefanelli

MONROE — Soprano Annamaria Stefanelli and her husband, tenor Rory Angelicola, will perform "A Sunday of Italian Opera" on Sunday at Villa Laura Ristorante, Spotswood-Englishtown Road.

"It's to recreate the excitement and passion of the opera," Angelicola said.

Accompanied by pianist James Lubrano, the pair will perform a variety of arias and duets from various operas, such as Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and "La Boheme" and Mascagni's "I' Amico Fritz."

"They create a sense of community with their audience," said publicist Marcia Mungenast.

The performance was the brainchild of Villa Laura owner Dominico Lotito, who grew up in Italy and wanted to recreate the atmosphere of his homeland with authentic food and opera in a villa setting.

"She really wants to make opera accessible to people," Murgenast said of Stefanelli. "It's not just an elitist thing."

According to Murgenast, the opera house in 19th-century Italy was equivalent to the movie theater in modern America, where people of all ages and backgrounds went.

Angelicola and Stefanelli, who live in Roseland, have been performing at Villa Laura at least twice a year, including a wellreceived event last March.

"We love singing together," Angelicola said. "We absolutely love it. We create better things together than by ourselves."

"I became interested in opera because of how long it's been around, for 400 years," Stefanelli said. "It's part of my heritage and it's very passionate, and that's what I am."

Afirst-generationAmerican,Stefanelli grew up in a music-loving Italian American community and learned Italian as her first language.

Angelicola's paternal grandfather was an accountant who became personal friends with the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, and frequently brought other singers to his house.

Angelicola and Stefanelli met during a community theater production. They also had the same voice teacher, and he would sit in and listen to her lessons.

Together, they have also performed at the Mercer County Italian American Festival, the Imperial Music Center in South River, the Unitarian Church in Montclair, the Amato Opera, and the American Singers Opera Project. The couple also participated in opera fundraisers for autism and runaways.

"It's a unique art form. There's no other art form like it," Stefanelli said.

Stefanelli has performed at Carnegie Hall, as well as at the 92nd Street Y, the Central Park Concert Series and the New York Grand Opera. She also gives performance lectures about the history of opera to various clubs and organizations, a "Fun With Opera" program for schools, and teaches voice and piano at the Academy of Music on Main Street, Spotswood.

Angelicola performed with the Belle Voice Opera Ensemble, and had roles in operas such as "La Traviata," "La Nozze Di Figaro" and "Faust." He is also a painter whose work includes set design for theatrical and dance productions.

Seating for Sunday's dinner and performance is at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $58, and include a "pris fix" dinner menu. Courses will be served separately, with performances in between. The event is BYOB.

"A lot of people don't have access to opera," Mungenast said. "You can have dinner and you can have opera, and it's a nice evening at an affordable price."