In 1998, Opera Orchestra of New York invited Scarola to join their staff to
direct concert stagings of their performances in Carnegie Hall. His debut
was with Verdi's rarely performed Jerusalem followed by Donizetti's
Poliuto. He continued in the 1999 season with I Masnadieri, La
Juive, and La Sonnambula.
Scarola was on the Metropolitan Opera Directing Staff for five seasons,
during which time he assisted on the Met Premiere of La Cenerentola
starring Cecelia Bartoli and conducted by James Levine and which was
telecast on PBS. He also assisted at the Metropolitan Opera on such pieces
as Salome, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rigoletto, Carmen, Un
Ballo in Maschera, Tosca, Andrea Chenier, The Ghosts of Versailles as
well as the Met premieres of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and A
Midsummer Night's Dream.
Making his professional directing debut with the Sarasota Opera in 1996,
Scarola directed La Forza del Destino in both the revised and
original versions, the latter being the first professionally staged
production of the opera in the United States. This was quickly followed by
directing debuts with Opera Illinois (Lucia di Lammermoor) and
Virginia Opera (Pagliacci). He has since returned to Opera Illinois
to direct their productions of Faust and West Side Story.
Upcoming engagements included concert stagings of Lucrezia Borgia and
Otello at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York as well
as a return to the Israel Vocal Arts Institute this summer. Scarola has
also worked with opera companies including Santa Fe, Cincinnati, Florida
Grand, Opera Pacific, New Orleans, Palm Beach, and L'Opera Francaise de New
York.
