As if The Frick Collection on the Upper East Side wasn’t beautiful enough, the museum was electrified on Sunday evening with Anthony Roth Costanzo’s brilliant operatic vocals.
In celebration of the opera singer’s new book and companion album, both named Countertenor, Costanzo performed with an ensemble led by Dan Schlosberg as part of The Frick’s 2026-2027 concert season. With his expansive vocal range, Costanzo’s vocals rang through the museum as he sang music spanning avant-gardist Klaus Nomi’s “You Don’t Own Me,” to an aria from Philip Glass’s classic Einstein on the Beach.
Published on Oct. 27 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, the book explores the history of the countertenor in opera. It also zooms out at certain points and examines gender through the higher male voice in other musical mediums such as pop and musical theater. The 10-track companion album, released on Oct. 23 by Nonesuch Records, shows off Costanzo’s stunning falsetto and nicely illustrates just the type of musicality the book discusses.
Sipping refreshing beverages, guests gathered in The Frick’s Garden Court after the performance for an intimate hour of mingling. Axel Rüger, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director of The Frick, took to the mic to praise Costanzo’s ability to juggle writing, performing and traveling all at once.
“I always suspect that some people, me not being one of them, have more than 24 hours in a day. And Anthony is definitely one of them,” he joked.
After Rüger spoke, Costanzo — who’s currently performing as Miss Elise Traynor in The Metropolitan Opera’s Lincoln in the Bardo — surprised guests with two songs as part of an encore: “How could we not sing in the Garden Court?” Costanzo playfully asked.
And he certainly sang. For his final song, the opera star smoothly transitioned from his lower register to his falsetto at lightning speed. With the gorgeous acoustics of the Garden Court, his impressive skill was on full display. With his uniquely gorgeous falsetto, he showed exactly how powerful and genre-bending the countertenor’s role can be in opera.
