mortier on the green hill?
Opera Chic reports this morning that Gerard Mortier is throwing his hat in the, uh, Ring for the co-directorship of the Bayreuth Festival. The Belgian intendant is reportedly teaming up with Nike Wagner to apply for the top Bayreuth spot to be vacated as soon as it can be pried from Wolfgang Wagner‘s cold dead fingers. (And he’s not even dead yet, so don’t hold your breath.)
The Mortier/Nike partnership is considered a dark horse for the job, with the odds-on favorite the team comprised of Wolfgang’s daughters Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier.
well, Neef is quite a hottie. If he decides to swing that door open (if it exists) he can call me. I am no more than 3 hours away from Chicago, and if he or Nathan Gunn called, I am sure I can make it in 2.
OK, OK, I guesses wrong COC and COT are not the same thing. Still, I’d take me a little longer, but I would still take the drive. Have you queens seen his pictures in the COC site?
“Interesting that the chairman of the board of NYCO was having lunch with a recent NYC mayor… now that could be interesting programming”
Where did she and Ed Koch eat?
I understand he is partial to the works of Marschner, Lortzing and Nicolai.
Where were you nattering Nells who think someone running the NYCO can’t be a co-director of a summer festival during the years when Paul Kellogg was *sole* intendant of both NYCO and Glimmerglass?
And how is it, as is constantly implied here, Mortier’s fault that the City Opera is without a director for two seasons? Or that one of the seasons has to be shut down because of construction in the house? (Though I can easily imagine his horror at most of what went up on that stage last season.) How is it his duty to make up for the board’s improvidence and the, um, serious clinical dysfunction of his predecessor in the job even before he takes office?
What on earth, NO. 23, would make you assume Koch? Wouldn’t Giuliani be the more intelligent guess, not to mention “recent.”
Though I can’t imagine why this sliver of gossip is implied to be of the slightest importance. You or I could easily have lunch with Mrs. Baker, and I have had it with Giuliani, as have many thousands of others. Why is it of any operatic significance if they ate together?
Where were you nattering Nells who think someone running the NYCO can’t be a co-director of a summer festival during the years when Paul Kellogg was *sole* intendant of both NYCO and Glimmerglass?
Good question, though the response would probably be “Glimmerglass and Bayreuth are not even close to being comparable”. I wonder if Mortier is there to mentor Nike Wagner, teach her the ropes of opera management and then leave or become a consultant, like I think he did after starting the RuhrTriennale? Wait! He started an arts festival while running the Salzburg Festival, that’s unpossible (tm Ralph Wiggums), you can’t do two things at once!
Hedging his bets already? What a putz.
Re: Alto:
People on the Internet being inconsistently critical? What a shock, a complete and utter shock!
Henry Holland: Well said regarding Alexander Neef. After serving as Mortier’s second-in-command for a few years at the prestigious Paris Opera, I think that a move to a similar position at NYCO would be more a step down than up. Neef got a great gig (I live in Toronto and actually worked on the opera house as a fundraiser; it is a great facility with near-perfect acoustics. The company is full of potential). I don’t think that it needs to be seen as a slight against Mortier.
At first I thought that it was odd of Mortier to be applying for the Bayreuth position not having started his NYCO position yet. However, in terms of scheduling, the two organisations might be a perfect complement. Bayreuth is a summer festival while NYCO runs in the typical Fall-Winter-Spring schedules. The yearly administrative cycles would probably ebb and flow nicely. And as has been mentioned, Mortier won’t have full responsibility at either organisation (I’m sure he’ll hire an administrative no. 2 at NYCO) so the work involved wouldn’t be all-consuming.
Thanks, Kashania, I appreciate the kind words. Yes, COC is full of potential, they’re currently doing stuff like War and Peace amidst the warhorses, if he clicks with the board, the staff and the fundraisers, Toronto could become an opera-travel destination spot for those of us that like 20th century non-standard rep stuff. Erm, that is, if he programs it first!
People on the Internet being inconsistently critical? What a shock, a complete and utter shock!
Hahahaha, well played. I’ve always loved the lines from Jesus Christ Superstar, where Judas sings to Jesus “It doesn’t help us if you’re inconsistent / They only need a small excuse / To put us all away”. Whatever would Judas think of the Internet?