dick or no dick?
In what will probably stand in history as her most wrong-headed judgment call ever, on December 24 La Cieca concluded that George Steel would not accept an offer from the New York City Opera. Your doyenne cited two reasons for her position: first, that the job wouldn’t have much in the way of art to offer for a few years as the company struggled to stay alive financially and second, that dumping Dallas for New York so early on would be either a dick move or else perceived as a dick move, which in the broader view amounts to the same thing.
The first (finance vs. art) reason may or may not apply: La Cieca really is as clueless about the NYCO’s finances as, say, Susan Baker. So let’s put that one aside for the moment and move on reason #2.
Well, cher public, what do you think? Is Steel behaving like a dick, and if so, why? Let’s begin by remembering that La Cieca doesn’t know the guy and is not very familiar with his work. So your doyenne is not going to jump to any conclusions. However, it does seem that Steel’s recent “Two-Face” behavior might be explained three different ways:
(A) Steel (though he is not a dick) is naive and doesn’t realize that his behavior comes off dickish.
(B) Steel (though he is not a dick) realizes his behavior comes off dickish, but figures with time and good work in the new position, the dicky smell will wear off.
(C) Steel is a dick, and as such NYCO should prepare for a major and brutal ass-fucking.
At the moment, La Cieca is leaning toward (B), with maybe a soupçon of (A), giving Steel the benefit of the doubt because of the floppy hair and the rimless glasses. Of course, the real proof of nondickery is in the pudding (La Cieca expresses herself badly) so we will all be waiting with great interest to hear reports of Steel’s first meetings with NYCO staff tomorrow. (That’s a hint, folks; La Cieca is fishing for gossip, and as always her word is her bond that sources remain confidential.)
B! But with just a little bit of C.
so much for ‘best classical coverage.’
La Cieca what would happen if you signed an exclusive contract with the Daily News, and 6 weeks later Tommasini drops dead of a heart attack and you are NYT’s first choice. Do you dump the contract and take the chance of a lifetime, knowing that you could make an impact on future generations acting like a douchebag. Or, do you be a lady of your word and stay put hoping that the chance may come around again in which you would be a front runner for you to make a major impact in arts coverage??
Who knew? Dick? No dick? Who cared? Cieca, I would say: none of the above.
Obviously what happened is they made him an offer he could not refuse, and I am talking about money. Also, if Steel is smart, and he is, he extracted some srong promises from that board. And one more thing, and this is also non-Dick: How well do you know Dallas? Well, George Bush will be living there for one thing. For another, even in its most culturally-enriched moments, it is a cow town occupied by cow-people. It’s an awful place; the peoplare are terrible. The Steel family is lucky to have escaped!!
In simple terms, they took the money and ran. I would have done the same thing, wouldn’t you? Now, NOW: one big thing remains — artistic directorship, leadership for NYCO. Very important; let’s see where that comes out. And I don’t mean Manahan.
###
C) with a “I am big, it’s Dallas Opera that got small” Norma Desmond-esque flourish. Fuck Dallas Opera and the horse they rode in on in any case because they had scheduled a production of Turnage’s terrific The Silver Tassie and canceled it partly because an anti-war theme in the opera would offend patrons in light of 9/11.
Touche’, @ #2. @ mymyster… I don’t think money is the issue. Having spoken to at least two people who early on were being considered for the post, part of the reason so few people jumped is because there just wasn’t enough money. I doubt they made an exception for Steel.
I think you’re wrong, R 6. What is offered to one person has nothing to do with what is offered to another.
Google:
MARY SHARP CRONSON
Well Aaron – let’s see: Dallas had to pay Steel more than Columbia to get him; then living in NYC costs lots more than Dallas, so NYCO really really had to pay Steel more money than Dallas, plus NYCO can *find* money for certain types of expenses, even if they have to go to midwest oil service execs or specialized foundation sources, which they likely did in this case. A few hundred thousand one way or the other will not make much difference to NYCO, but it will make a helluva lot of difference to the father of a young family.
Without question, the money had to be big – but also the artistic opportunity and the excitement of being back in NYC in a top-dog position, even if the doghouse is presently delapidated. That can be made to change. Public records will eventually show what these amounts of money are that we are talking about. I don’t blame Steel, and the Dallas Opera board member’s comment was both understanding and gracious. This could all culminate in a happy outcome all around; let’s hope so!
New York Times
Steele is not a dick IF Dallas is happy to see him go. It will be very interesting to see what emerges from Dallas beyond their current polite response.
As for NYCO’s finances, they are beyond shaky. Public record makes that clear — it doesn’t take a crystal ball (or La Cieca’s Magic 8 Ball!) The fact that at least one of the most influential opera donors in New York (and the country for that matter) championed Steel’s appointment could bode well for the company temporarily, but long term stability is only going to be possible with a signficant change in both the business and artistic sides of NYCO’s operations.
Is Steel the man to do that? I would venture to say only if he assembles a team to supplement his personal expertise. He has proven himself in new music circles; he has not proven himself in opera. I hope he is wise enough to know where he could benefit from the power of a real support system – and that he is going to have to hire some new blood for management positions before he will ever be able to act on any artistic ideas he may have.
It seemed fairly clear to me, and I stated at the time, that he would most likely fare better at NYCO and was most likely leaning in the direction of bailing on Dallas because of his frequently professed love of living in NY and its art’s institutions. His PR was spinning, spinning, spinning, but the grumblings from Dallas were not good.
I did however, agree that it would be a seriously dickish move, and would all ready mar a, let’s face it, Times’ coddled reputation as a wunderkind when he really hasn’t proven much of anything, most certainly not in the area of opera or vocal works, in which he has no experience or expertise whatsoever.
I might also point out that he has little to no experience in major fund raising, which was a point of contention in Dallas where he was immediately tasked with raising a VERY large amount of money. This did not make him happy.
His area of expertise, if it can be called that, is in niche market programming, and he has done some interesting things in a tiny theater.
Whether or not this will translate to a major house in Lincoln Center, when he “doesn’t like” (direct quote, don’t ask me for the source) works like Lucia will, of course, be seen (or not, depending if NYCO can bail itself out over the summer into next season, which by the way, is not AT ALL a sure thing.)
I should also like to point out this little quote at the very end of the Times’ article that shouold strike terror into any person who likes music :”Mr. Steel said he might try his hand on the podium with a favorite work, but not until after his first season on the job.”
Yeah, um, no.
He fancies himself a musician and a conductor, and I can quite assure you, he is not. He’s akin to the rich guy who buys his way into all the orchestras to conduct (is it?) Mahler 2. I’m failing to remember his name, but he is an absolute misery to behold on the podium, for both the working musicians and the audience. Let’s just say that George’s “gifts” in that area don’t extend much further than his. To state it bluntly, he has no idea what he is doing.
What George IS good at right now (well, at least he was until this PR debacle) is administrating and (some) programming in niche markets. Let’s hope he figures that out, pulls together a season, and leaves the music to the musicians.
Oh dear, Cassandra, you actually read like you know what you’re writing about. Poor, poor City Opera. Maybe they SHOULD have gone with Counter Critic.
And of course Steele’s behavior was dickish in the extreme, but opera politics have always been totally Borgia-like in their nature and will probably continue to be so as long as the art form survives. It somehow goes with the territory.
I have it on good authority that Dallas Opera is glad to see him go. In his short time there, he evidently went to no rehearsals and only one performance. I heard this from a highly-placed individual at the Seattle Opera who is pretty well plugged into this news…so is he a dick? Probably, but Dallas doesn’t care.
This just in from Dallas:
The Dallas Opera Board President made it sound like “it’s all worked out for the best” with Steel leaving. I wonder if that is a comment on the job Steel has been doing in TX and what they saw on the horizon after his few short months there.
Cassandra: What a tissue of fiction!
“Not a musician”? He may be the best-prepared musician in any administrative position in an opera house. After years of solid training in his choir school and a solid degree in music, he did FOUR SUMMERS in the elite Tanglewood conductors program. But you say, “He fancies himself a musician and a conductor, and I can quite assure you, he is not.” You assure us of that in opposition to, oh say, Leonard Bernstein?
Have you ever attended any of the intricate and well-prepared performances that he conducted? Not only his refined performances of complex Renaissance music, but, for example, that huge program of Stravinsky that he did last year in the Armory to universal admiration? Have you ever worked with any of the performers (some of the best instrumentalists and singers in New York) who will find incomprehensible your facile claim that “he really hasn’t proven much of anything, most certainly not in the area of opera or vocal works” when he conducts the best independent professional chorus in the city and has been a professional singer himself?
As for not being a fund-raiser? Have you seen the comparative figures from when he took over Miller Theatre and when he left it? What you call a “tiny theater” certainly gained huge influence in this country for all that. And just how much international opera experience do you expect of someone just over 40 who has been busy putting on shows first the 92nd Street Y and then 11 years building and maintaining a big schedule at the Miller?
As one of your respondents points out, you talk as though you know what you’re talking about. This is particularly damaging when you’re simply inventing facts. Why are you avid to do such damage? The NYCO has a chance to have a much-needed new lease on life. It seems particularly squalid to oppose that with invention that has evidently vicious intent.
His tenure is doomed for failure by the heavens. He signed the contract during Mercury Retrograde. A BIG no no!
U know Cieca, why anyone would want to bother with the NYCO today is beyond me.
I like Mr. Steel well enough for simply bellying up to that bar knowing how nasty the situation is.
Mr. Steel will be able to pull off at the NYCO what no one else will because he FEELS New York AND this company in his blood. This is the singular requirement necessary for this appointment today. Which explains why he would dump Dallas (which is loaded with coin) for a far less inviting tournee at the NYCO.
My money is on Mr. Steel. You and your rather educated audience will witness an era of importance at the NYCO not seen since the days of Miss Sills.
I will certainly be watching as it unfolds.
myster: is the altitude in Santa Fe affecting your brain? To paint with such a broad brush about the people in Dallas would be like saying “well, you know all those Jews are cheap, and all blacks are lazy, and … ” well you get the point. Have you ever tried “thinking” before you open your trap.
As for Mr. Steel, without knowing him, I’d lean more towards “B” as the answer since the behavior is clearly “dickish” we just don’t know if the person is a dick but it does seem that Dallas is not all that sad about him leaving. If reports of his behavior there are true, then he sure sounds like a “dick” which may be exactly what NYCO needs.
When dealing with a “cunt” it’s always best to have a “dick.”
I do think it says a lot about the current state that — despite a three year plus seach — they couldn’t find a single operatic administrator in the USA or anywhere else in the world willing to take the top job at NYCO. Not out of hundreds or thousands of people.
Whatever Mr. Steel’s expertise it is not in the running of an opera house. No one involved in the running of an opera house anywhere was willing to take that job. That’s illustrative.
One more thing….
There can be no doubt I will be flying in to attend some NYCO prima’s once Mr. Steel sets his hand to the schedule.
I rarely attend New York these days given the utterly boorish, useless, tiresome calenders that the Metropolitan Opera has offered recently.
Mr. Steel will be able to pull off at the NYCO what no one else will because he FEELS New York AND this company in his blood.
Resumes (not to mention checks, contracts and schedules) are printed in ink, not blood. La Cieca will rest a little easier if and when the NYCO can introduce an experienced and dedicated artistic administration staff who can take on most if not all of the practical duties of running an opera house from Steel. Plus, if what La Cieca hears is true, he will need a sort of A&R assistant to explain to him voices, currently available singers and how the standard operatic repertoire is cast. For example, building a new Tristan und Isolde around Brandon Jovanovich is an idea that someone has to be around to say “no” to.
*smiles broadly @ La Cieca*
I agree with the necessities you advise for Mr. Steels successful run. However, there can be no questioning the reality that the man is prepared to give 180% each day, every day. I am certain that love/lust as moved La Cieca herself extraordinary hieghts (of which I shall not enquire).
And La Cieca, U have been around the block a few times, So U know well NO ONE has anything good to say about a new interloper that will likely upset the 45 minute coffee and cigarette breaks….
“My money is on Mr. Steel. You and your rather educated audience will witness an era of importance at the NYCO not seen since the days of Miss Sills.”
I am hoping you mean Miss Sills in her vocal primes (pre- 1972) and not Miss Sills as a General Manager who put on things like NAUGHTY MARIETTA, THE STUDENT FROM SALAMANCA and BRIGADOON.
well while I do think one cannot say all the people of Dallas are either this or that, do look at our last election. There is no doubt that Texas is much more conservative than New York and I for one would not want to live there or raise a young family there. Of course there are liberal pockets everywhere and one only needs to look at the one electoral vote that Obama snatched away from the Rethugs in Nebraska to see that, but in general the south and Texas are much more conservative. Isn’t Texas one of the big ATM’s for the Rethugs?
“La Cieca expresses herself badly”
La Cieca expresses herself POORLY – she herself is BAD.
Personally, I think option (c) is the most exciting – and probably the most likely.
When did “dick” become a pejorative term? Is it short for a less appealing expression, such as “dick-head”? Would someone please explain?
I met Mr. Steel at an intermission at the Miller Theater a few years ago, and boy was I impressed. He is one knowledgeable, aggressive guy with uncharacteristic polish for someone in NYC. He’s also easy on the eyes. It remains to be seen if he can manage an opera company.
I wish him lots of luck. He’ll need it with that board of directors.
Personally, I think he’s cute, in a choirboy/ pervy kind of way. And I love the kind of programming he has done at the Miller. I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Firstly, I don’t think that La Cieca “expresses herself badly.” Secondly, I see no reason for her to chastise herself for not having a better handle on the NYCO situation, given that no-one at NYCO (including, and particularly, the Board of Directors) seems to have known what the hell is going on over there for years.
Now, is George going to save NYCO? Probably not, if that clueless Board is going to be looking over his shoulder on a daily basis. Money is going to be very tight, and without an artistic director to bounce ideas off of, it’s likely to get very lonely for him over there. True, I was one of the few who was OK with the idea of Volpe going over there without an artistic counterpart, but at least Volpe has the clout to pick up the phone and get some fund raising wheels in motion. Who does Steel know? I’m sure he did wonderful things here in NY, but being a nice, sweet, talented guy is not a criteria for running what the NY Times this morning calls “the nation’s second most important [opera] house.” (Debatable, I’m sure, at this point.)
What interests me most is the Zambello angle? It seems to be a matter of she said/she said, but was she offered the artistic position, or not? And if so, and it was withdrawn, that just seems to me to be another instance of this Board having it’s head up its ass. I’m not saying Zambello’s in any way a fucking genius (her Met Lucia was a notorious disaster, after all, and The Little Mermaid looks like a dreadful kitschfest), but she has a name, she has connections, at the very least she can book her girlfriend for fundraisers. She a known quantity, love her or hate her, ready to hit the ground running from Day One. To throw George into the lion’s den without back-up doesn’t seem to make any sense whatsoever. Sorry, rambling now…
BTW, I don’t blame the guy. As important as Dallas Opera may be, NYCO is NYCO. It’s a huge risk for him, I expect he’s scared as hell, but when opportunities knock…And sometimes you have to act a little dickish in life.
BTW, just read that Gheorghiu and Blythe are missing performances. Wonder what that’s about, if anything?
Dumb, squabbling “trustees” (did they ever know the meaning of the word trust?) have opted for the cutest guy they can tolerate. So what.
Look at Canadian Opera where a truly professional and well-grounded Intendant has found an MD with ten solid years of operatic experience. Why can’t NYCO have a tenth of that probity, huh?
Mme Turandot: Really, Miss, are you serious? That is, did you think I was serious? I do not make such generalizations — I was representing standard stereotypical humor about Texas — “laughing stock Texas,” which you should certainly know. We certainly laugh at them from here, while taking their money, of course, and to make fun of Dallas is a great local sport, here and lots of other places. I once reviewed Mary Jane Johnson’s Minnie as “a Neiman-Marcus Minnie,” and I got a phone call from a Texas magazine saying “what in the world do you mean by that?” Honey, if you have to ask I cannot explain. Ever heard of tongue-in-cheek, otherwise known as ‘joking on the facts?’ Oh, my blood oxygen is at 96; what’s yours?
Now, yawll cum to Santy Fay and we’ll giv ya a right good time!
It’s ironic that in an August 13, 2008 NY Times article about George Steel leaving Miller to go to Dallas, he is quoted as saying “I will certainly be the Mortier of Dallas and then some.”
What’s troubling for Steel is that the same article states that the annual budget of the Miller theater is around $3 million – obviously a much smaller and less complex an operation than NYCO. That’s like becoming mayor of Philadelphia based on your experience as mayor of a small suburban town. The issues and problems that he’ll face at NYCO are going to be different, difficult, intractable, convoluted and long-standing compared to anything that he faced at Miller.
Good luck to him – he might have a chance with extraordinarily solid board support. I’ll be rooting for him to do some good for NYCO. It would make me very sad to see it go under.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/arts/music/13stee.html
Back to the original question, B…BBB! The public can be very forgiving, especially since NYCO has been drawing up this huge ‘cry me a river’ campaign for a while now and it’s the ‘people’s opera.’ And the media has def. bought into it…it’s almost as though if NYCO doesn’t recover then no other house stands a chance.
However, there’s no doubt about it, if I were Dallas Opera, I’d be pissed. But the dicky smell will wear off soon.
I have reason to believe that the search committees in both Dallas and New York vetted him about as thoroughly as the McCain team did Sarah Palin.
Dallas also used a head-hunter who is local, and who, by his own admission, specializes in searches for college and university deans, and has absolutely no working knowledge of the performing arts. I have it on pretty good authority that, during his brief tenure in Dallas, the senior staff and key board members found Mr. Steel to be an unmitigated disaster, and that he knows next to nothing about opera: the rep, singers, conductors, directors, designers, etc.
Zambello lobbied aggressively for the NYCO position during the last go-round as well, when it ultimately went to Mortier. Trouble is, her temper has burnt too many bridges, and she’s become a very polarizing figure. In terms of whether she or Susan Baker is telling the truth about whether or not she was outright offered artistic leadership of NYCO, I wouldn’t wish to choose between them, given the unreliability of both regarding truth-telling. Zambello and Manuela have become all about mythology-building and hagiography concerning Zambello’s legacy and achievements, even if that involves bending the truth.
That said, I too give her props for having the cojones to make statements that *someone* needed to put on record regarding the NYCO board’s incompetence and malfeasances. It’s just sad and pathetic that the choice came down to either Zambello or Steel.
Dallas considers itself lucky that Steel is gone; no tears here in Big D….and I don’t like George Bush either!
Forgot that Zambello’s with Hoelterhoff, thought it was Patricia Racette for some reason. Hence my earlier statement.
The impression that I got from the Times this morning was that there was a chance of having both Steel and Zambello on board, one as general manager, the other as artistic director. Am I the only one?
He doesn’t seem like a dick on the video NYCO posted of him:
http://blog.nycopera.com/pr/nycopera/blog/blog-post.aspx?id=1388&gclid=CKqGu8X1kJgCFQGHHgodbgcGnw
So does anyone know why Steel is in the NY TIMES “approved column”, along with Elliot Carter, Ian Bostridge, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Peter Gelb and others they never, ever criticize?
Is it his good work at Miller? Family or social connections? Being straight with kids would play well with the Rosenthal holdovers there; being kinda of cute with the senior critic.
Hmmm, interesting video. He seems like a sweet guy, let’s hope he has balls. (None currently in evidence.) He’s obviously been coached to say “the David H. Koch theater” and “the People’s Opera.” Someone’s already pulling some strings…Did Mortier make this kind of video? I can’t imagine…The fact that Steel doesn’t seem like a dick may not be a good thing at this point.
C. Wham Bam Thank you Ma’am.
Anyone who thinks NYCO staffers were taking 45 minutes ciggy breaks has never been backstage at the State theater where an extremely dedicated and underpaid crew worked in cramped, windowless, underground offices day and night, literally! It’s insulting to think that resistance to Steel in Dallas and at NYCO has to do with laziness. People who actually have opera experience question his experience. Those questions have not been laid to rest by his wham bam thank you Ma’am stint in Dallas.
Passion for NYCO cannot be why he took the job. I doubt he has even been to NYCO, and I would bet my left nut he hasn’t been in the last season. Although attending some performances would have been a good lesson for him in programming since last season was pretty damn wonderful. Vanessa, Margerat Garner, Cav/Pag, King Arthur, Butterfly and Cendrillon were outstanding to me, and if you missed them so you could go to Met and see Ernani, I pity you. The idea they offered him a lot of money is a fantasy. This whole “season” has been a cash flow nightmare.
La Cieca impression of Steel’s capabilities and prospects at NYCO are correct. Unfortunately after rounds and rounds of layoffs there aren’t a lot of people actually working at NYCO. Robin Thompson, who was the in-house producer and artistic director and responsible for what was on stage, is leaving at the end of the week. The CFO left last week. So many development and marketing people have left that I can’t even tell you who, if anyone, is in charge of those departments. Assistant Directors, Makeup, Wigs, Costumes, all those departments were decimated when the theater went dark.
Alas, those are exactly the things Steel has no knowledge of. The only in tact entities are the orchestra and the stage crew.
This appointment is Susan Baker’s Hail Mary Pass. NYCO has already dipped into its endowment to payoff past debt. PK’s budgets were in the 42 million dollar range, NYCO ultimately offered Mortier a 34 million dollar budget. Fixed costs at NYCO eat up about 30 mill. Remember all those crack about cheap looking productions in the past at NYCO? Well children, those productions will look like Versailles compared to what Steel will be able to offer. His fans may think he’s a genius, but he is not a printing press.
If he wants to build new productions (and the blurb in the Times indicates he does) he will have to find the money to do so, and fast! However two other Opera companies have gone bust this year and all the ones I hear about (from the Met on down) are suffering. How Steel can convince anyone to give the 5-10 million dollars neccesary just to equal PK’s budget is beyond me. He may be charming, he may be be talented, but if the Met with all their resources, track record, star power, and huge development staff is cancelling productions (like “The Ghosts of Versailles”) it means the money is not out there.
Again and again it comes down to money, and as the NY Times pointed out Mr. Steel has no experience with fundraising. I’d like to see NYCO thrive of course, but I just don’t see it happening. I bet Steel bails by April, which would be about the same length of time he stayed in Dallas.
PS sorry I resigned last night, I thought we were done with this. Guess TF’s 15 minutes are not over.
Let’s think of it this way. Whoever can save NYCO from going under is going to be touted as a hero. Audiences will accept stripped down productions. At least the company is still here. The expectations are so low that anything short of a disaster will be considered a triumph. It’s like becoming President after W. He doesn’t have to be great. He just has to not be a disaster.
I am intrigued. I don’t know Steele, but am familiar with his work. This is interesting and I hope for the best. NYC needs NYCO and more importantly from my point of view, American opera singers need NYCO as a place to get noticed. Too many careers got a huge boost when emerging singers sang leading roles at Lincoln Center. The opera world without NYCO is too grim a prospect to consider.
Nerva: Apparently Steel works a crowd well, has very good manners and of course is a WASP which all is very NYT-friendly. Plus he is perceived as a doer of good works for the community, which fits right into the NYT “say nice things about good intentions” unwritten policy.
It does seem interesting that in the fields of dance and theater, where there is a lot of challenging brand-new stuff out there, the NYT critics have no problem labeling a new piece as crap. In classical music, where the programming is much meeker, the Times reviewers always include lots of wordage about how even though this piece was not up to much, the presenter should be lauded for doing it, part of the duty of an orchestra, etc. etc.
I am going to go with (B), mixed with NYCO offered him a lot of money and that he didn’t care for Dallas all that much. Also, it’s a great opportunity for him professionally (whether he succeeds or fails) and will lead to other, bigger things.
One question, and I hope someone does recall: Was Mortier told by the NYCO board that the TOTAL BUDGET they could offer him for NYCO would be $34 million, or that his budget for PRODUCTIONS would be $34 million? It makes a big difference. If their fixed costs are indeed $30 million, and he only has $4 million with which to put on 6-9 operas, that’s a problem. But if their fixed costs are $30 million with an additional budget of $34 million for production costs, then he should not have any problems at all putting on 6-9 very fine productions a year.
jatm2063: I think the former must be true. Physical productions for opera at NYCO don’t cost anything close to an average a million dollars per, particularly since most of them are shared or borrowed. So Mortier or Steel would be looking at something like $5 million for director and designer honoraria, construction, extra rehearsals and other costs associated with new productions. And from that $5 million would have to come the cost of renting and transporting whatever shows are borrowed from other companies.
This is just off the top of my head of course as I don’t know how things are line budgeted at NYCO.
After reading the comments following the link to the Dallas newspaper article, it is hard to believe any intelligent artist or manager would want to live or work in that city. The remarks are so full of homophobic epithets (limp-wristed, sissy glasses, etc.)that it shows the city to be the perfect home for our 43rd president to move to and the rest of us to stay away from.
Good luck Steel, you are going to need it.
Then that is indeed a tight squeeze on the purse strings. It can be done, however. He might have to spend a few seasons concentrating on outstanding revivals of things they already have rather than much new stuff. I personally do not need new productions all the time. A well cast, well sung, well directed, well conducted revival is equally appealing to a new production that may or may not be a success. Of course, Madame Butterfly year after year after year does get to be a bore, even if it’s beautifully done.
Ah well, interesting times. I admit to a mighty curiosity about how he’ll proceed. Will he stick to all or part of Mortier’s planned first season, or go off completely in his own direction.
All Knowing Seashell:
I heard the very same thing you heard about Dallas picking up Steel through a headhunter, and about Dallas being furious with the headhunter once Steel actually came aboard and the Board discovered, instantly, that Steel was the wrong person for the job from administrative, artistic and fund-raising viewpoints. I am told that Steel was informed by the Board last month that his future in Dallas was tenuous.
I think anyone who thinks there is a correlation between art/culture and liberal/conservative is either completely stupid or a moron.
The first question I would ask Mr. Steel at a press conference would be this:
“Tell us what production or productions you’ve seen at NYCO in the last ten years are ones you would point to as examples of what the company is doing well?”
I think that would tell us an awful lot.
Doing anything that even hints at Mortier’s involvement would be a huge mistake. Steel has to assert his own vision (presuming he has one) immediately, and let the past be the past. I do agree that doing middling productions of the standard repertory will get him nowhere. On the other hand he has to fill the coffers, and anything too avant garde simply won’t do that. At this point, what on earth can he program, and who’s going to sing it? We may not get a new season next year, either.
Turandot, did you forget you were never finished?
I’m astounded how people will not only spout the most preposterous misinformation (e.g., he “hasn’t done fund raising” when he raised all the money the Miller needed to extend its budget many times what it had been) and are even willing to “bet my left nut” on his non-attendance at NYCO!
First, they didn’t attend themselves or didn’t keep their eyes open if they really think that. (I recall seeing him there myself. He was seen at EVERY kind of classical music event in the city.) And such a statement is one more evidence of a laughable lack of sophistication about how the NYC musical world works. Steel wouldn’t have got very far not attending the NYCO when his board and the City Opera board shared a most munificent monied link.
Attention to such things paid off for him before, is paying off now, and will pay off for City Opera in future.
And it’s hard to believe that any human being thinks another would be more likely to have dough charmed out of them by Joe Volpe than by George Steel. Beggars the imagination.
voyagerx: Yes, comments on a website are the perfect way to accurately judge the intellectual climate of a city. Or, to take another instance, YouTube comments provide a striking international view of the finest representatives of humanity.
34 million is the total budget ultimately presented to Mortier. He was promised 60 mill by the board but the were not able to raise the funds. PK’s budgets were in the 42 mill range and with that the company carried a 5-7 million dollar deficit each year!
Puhlease folks, no one at NYCO has ever had anything like 34 million just for productions. So the 4 million (over the 30 mill fixed costs, rent and contracted employees; orchestra, ast. directors, stagehands) includes costs of the production (renting or building) singers, guest conductors, guest or additional musicians. I don’t know if the 4 million includes non-contract staff (administrators) but I bet it does.
And it will be pretty hard for Mr. Steel to rent productions from other companies that he has never even seen! Also, none of the Mortier productions, which were all rentals from Europe, are going to be available to Mr. Steel. They were available to Mortier because of personal connections, etc. And at that they were expensive, too expensive for this new reduced budget.
He will literally have to go into the warehouse at NYCO and see what he likes. I don’t think he has any other options.
He might have to spend a few seasons concentrating on outstanding revivals of things they already have rather than much new stuff…Of course, Madame Butterfly year after year after year does get to be a bore, even if it’s beautifully done.
I should think that the Kellogg regime would have left behind a few productions worth reviving of operas less routine than Butterfly, while NYCO gets their act together. For starters, what about the Christopher Alden Mother of us all or the Mark Morris Platee?
Indiana: The Platee is a very good idea indeed. The Mother, however, never did any business, despite a terrific cast and a great, great production. So a revival of that piece would be at best a loss leader.
Alto, all I can say is if GS was at NYCO last season, he kept a very low profile. Tells us what he saw? We would all like to know.
I was at a number of opening nights last season sitting near the VIP seats and never saw him. Just to say “He was seen.” isn’t really much, if any information. Not very different from me saying “He was not seen.” Tell us what he saw and you can singlehandedly put to rest this ugly ugly rumor (which I too have heard) that he is ignorant of the repetoire. Inquiring minds want to know….
Yes please on the Platee–I had very good luck talking people who don’t normally go to the opera into seeing that, and everyone enjoyed it immensely.
Rameau. Hmmmm. Not a baroque fan but that was indeed very cute and fun.
But he’ll find something that suits him, regardless of what the rest of us think of it.
I’m going out on a limb and guessing that there will definitely be some sort of season next year. It may be shorter, with fewer works than was usual under PK. But, he’s been hired to get things going. If things don’t get going, then they are paying him for nothing. Also, if the board did tell Mortier they had $34 million for him, one presumes they still have approximatey $34 million for Mr. Steel.
I agree about the “Platee.” Attending it was not only enjoyable, but the downtown dance and haute couture crowds drew an unusually young audience for it the night I attendee: they looked like the clientele on any given night at Florent, or some other hipster hangout.
“The Mother of Us All,” while a brilliant production, really didn’t sell at all. It also worked much better in the intimate theater at Glimmerglass, albeit with a mixed-bag cast, and didn’t transfer as well as I’d hoped into the State Theater.
And, please, NYCO: NO MORE JONATHAN MILLER. He is Exhibit A that it is possible to be a highly intelligent, witty individual, without possessing one iota of talent as a stage director.
alto: I am not the NY music scene insider you obviously are, but I hardly think it “beggars the imagination” to think that Joe Volpe, having run the largest opera company in the world for 16 years (42 years in total), might know just a little bit more about such things than George Steel whose been doing this since October. Yes, he was at the Miller (a lovely venue, with the top ticket price being $35), but it’s simply not the same thing. Does Volpe have one-tenth the artistic sensibility of Miller? Of course not, but that wasn’t my point.
I do, however, absolutely agree with you that it’s ludicrous to think that Steel never once managed to find himself at NYCO.
All-Knowing Seashell: Unfortunately, the Morris Orfeo at the Met demonstrated that lighting doesn’t strike twice.
Eons ago,a certain GD from a certain Southern State immediately jumped ship to go for greener pastures. That person is still there and the marriage is still ongoing.
I just hope that NYCO is REALLY a greener pasture for Mr. Steel.
He faces equal challenges in fund raising and developing a wider audience aside from balancing the budget and presenting an exciting and varied operatic repertoire in these two companies.
I don’t like to comment any pros or cons to his move but hopefully he has made a wiser decision for himself,his family and the company he will soon engage.
TT
Id love to comment but a couple of my cows just out of the fence out back so i gotta go round em up…
Please MrMyster…Dallas has more people that MOVED here that were actually BORN here… Ive spent a goodly amount of time in Santa Fe and while Dallas is hardly my favorite city in the world, Im alot happier here than I would be in Santa Fe I think.
Well, well, I thought High C’s had disappeared entirely. So nice for him to be back.
TIMMAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!
I just want to know how much the boy wonder pays Alto?
The NYCO needs a genius- someone who knows all about the art of opera and everything about voices. It’s clear the the administrators haven’t heard about Parterre- there are heaps of them in here
It might not make for the most intriguing libretto, but it’s completely possible for a talented person with good intentions to take on the role at Dallas, and then find himself face-to-face with the chance to lead the NYCO — a great thing for him, a great thing for the NYCO, a great thing for opera in the US. Being realistic about where the best alchemy is possible doesn’t make you a dick, and doesn’t mean you leave the previous company in a bad place if you handle it right. Folks in the know in Dallas tell me that’s exactly how it’s perceived there — without all the rancor and sour grapes implied in a bunch of the other posts. Boring and straightforward — oh well….
Anyone who wants to know how Dallas feels about Steel’s leaving can read the article in the January 17 edition of The Dallas Morning News by Dallas’s classical music critic Scott Cantrell. He gets it ALL out there! Wonder no more….