undone deal?
Cher public, you may recall that it was La Cieca who was the first to break the story that Gérard Mortier was under consideration to be the next General Manager of the New York City Opera, not quite a week before confirmation appeared in the moribund print media. Since then the irreverent intendant has made a lot of headlines here and elsewhere.
Well, now you should be prepared for a shock, cher public, or at least for what may be the biggest story of the year. La Cieca hears a whisper that the Mortier/NYCO deal has gone sour, leaving the company rudderless beginning in 2009. Of course, your doyenne is probably wrong (she so often is!) but, on the chance that she’s not, well, remember you heard it here first!
UPDATE: A member of the cher public has forwarded La Cieca a thought-provoking clip from Daily Yomiuri Online. Sylvain Cambreling (Mortier’s “longtime collaborator,” per the New York TImes) has been named principal conductor of The Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, effective April 1, 2010. The tipster notes “…Tokyo Opera City would be thrilled to get their hands on a star like Mortier if he were so inclined. And I bet they’re fully funded there…”
I saw Futral in a concert performance of a Rossini thing in Edinburgh a few years ago, and I thought she was really marvellous. I think the voice itself lacks a bit of individuality and depth, but there was nothing wrong with how she was using it the night I heard her. Totally reliable, secure coloratura and top notes, despatched with more than a little style.
I saw the NYCO Semele and loved everything about it. Futral was fabulous. The following week in Siege of Corinth I didn’t like her quite as much. Oh well.
Scaramuccio:
“What a lively piece it is – surely ripe for an extravagant staging at the Met”
…we DID get it (“Benvenuto C”)., at the MET–in the ’03-04 season; and it’s scheduled to return in the next couple of seasons
Ref #83, Henry Holland: “Heads explode” all over Parterre? Horrors! You know Opera Folk dont like messes.
Gaddes is English? Who would have known? How can you tell? Listen, hon, as long as the opera companies don’t do Italian or French, and everything is in English, well Englishmen are just fine to run opera companies. And casting – well, isn’t the Met a shining beacon of what Anglos can do when turned loose upon casts? And somebody said Geo. Manahan is a hack?
I wont argue, but have you heard him conduct contemporary music? He’s a whiz! Nobody can tell when it gets fucked up! And have you heard Mo. S. Lord conduct? How would you describe that?
Happy Thoughts to Henry Paulson
mrmyster/santa faux
I’m very curious…What , in the opinions of those who refer to him as such, makes George Manahan “a hack”?
I’ve never winced all that much at a NYCO performance, under Manahan’s baton, as I have across the Plaza, when Carlo Rizzi is on the podium…(among others…)
Just asking…..
Hack as in bland, uninspired, when in doubt just let everbody know how loud the orchestra can play. Part of the problem may be the acoustics of the theatre but I have never come away from anything he has conducted at NYCO ravished – which has happened more than once at the Met, Carnegie Hall & NY Phil under different conductors. He has conducted a wide variety of things there and it was all just rather perfunctory IMHO.
Well at least he’s not Quelar.
Gaddes is English? Who would have known? How can you tell?
Google is your friend.
Having met the Mortier, I can report that he is charming. But of course, this means nothing. Can he charm his way into the pockets of wealthy donors? That remains to be seen. After all, he has been credited with leaving 2 former companies in the red- and these institutions were financed by the state. One wonders if Mortier understands what he is getting into.
To paraphrase Mae West: the bad boy of opera will need to do better.