non, je ne regrette rien
Gerard “La Môme” Mortier told Le Monde yesterday that he has “no regrets” walking away from the New York City Opera. The wily Belgian impresario added, “But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall; and did it my way.” [via NYT]
Espèce de merde.
The man is and always was disgusting.
I guess this makes George Steel runner up in the dick award category.
What’s say we honor Mortier w/ a lifetime dick achievement award?
He is a disgrace. And his comment about Barenboim in that article – he wishes!
I sat within close earshot of Mortier at last Saturday’s prima of Lady Macbeth at Bastille (fabulous, BTW). The set change before the final scene seemed to take an unusually long time, and a few audience members finally launched into desultory applause. Mortier turned to his wife (I assume) and went into a tirade against the publique, how it was just like a kindergarden, the minute people had to wait a few instants for an entracte they got impatient, they were like children, blah blah blah. NYCO had a real close call with that one.
Actually… if you read the article in “Le Monde” Mortier did not say “no regrets” about NYCO, not to impugn the credibility of the Gray Lady. Here is a translation of Mortier’s published remarks, which were in response to a question about his Bayreuth proposal AND New York City Opera AND Madrid –
http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2009/01/08/gerard-mortier-l-opera-de-paris-n-a-pas-le-public-qu-il-merite_1139360_3246.html
“I made the proposal to Bayreuth as a matter of principle: there is no reason that the Wagner family should continue to run that festival, since it is no longer funded privately. I knew that I had no chance of being chosen. I said so much to the chairwoman of the New York City Opera board, Susan Baker. Perhaps I made an error, but I have no regrets.
New York is another matter. They guaranteed me a $60 million budget, and then the total amount melted away because of the ongoing crisis. I accepted some sacrifices, but there are limits. That company must innovate to exist alongside the Metropolitan Opera. Today, I am afraid it will disappear. Then they offered me the Berlin Staatsoper, but with the music director Daniel Barenboim, although we share a mutual appreciation, we would have been like two tigers on the same hill. Finally, Madrid, with whom I have been in discussions for some time, called me. The Spanish also wanted Stéphane Lissner, but I believe that Lissner is the obvious future director of the Opéra de Paris in 2013.”
Well, as much of a tool as he is, if the reports of his proposed budget being contractual are true, then it’s not his fault (as has been noted here time before). And there’s not alot anyone could have done to turn the company around on a budget of 30 million.
And BTW, lots of my friends have sung for George Steele – I’d assume we’re going to be seeing staged representations of the chants of Hildegard von Bingen, and the like….
OMG, who cares about Mortier!
As Gelb would have all of us believe, it’s only the MET that matters.
“Mortier turned to his wife (I assume) and went into a tirade against the publique.”
A tirade from Mortier is not a surprise. A wife would be, though.
#9 Agreed. I do believe that Mortier is one of the boys!!!!