steel drivin’ man
Now, you know La Cieca likes taking a confrontational attitude with operatic authority figures as much as any other gadfly. But she is going to say that this Jeremy Gerard may be carrying the bitch-slapping just a wee bit too far in his current Bloomberg.com screed on the New York City Opera’s year-long hiatus (“City Opera is in dire financial straits and the recent hiring of opera newbie George Steel has hardly brightened the mood of doom” is one of the milder rebukes Gerard delivers.)
Your doyenne is beginning to believe that those conspiracy theories about the malign influence of Manuela Hoelterhoff may not be so far-out after all. Or is there another explanation for Bloomberg’s ferocious attitude toward The Man of Steel?
No- he didn’t report the facts. He used what he thinks are the facts to score a point. His point? a complaint that there is no season. He doesn’t seem to understand that it isn’t possible to produce operas while construction is going on. The fact that is being ignored is that constuction is being done around the ballet.
#21: i agree — the fact that construction was required to be done around the Ballet is indeed a distorting omission in the piece.
however, in the broader context of how NYCO chose to deal with the loss of its venue for the current season, the fact remains: City Opera could have programmed one helluva lot more than they have, using other venues.
To veer slightly off topic….Had anyone else heard of the concert at Alice Tully that was mentioned? It’s got Nathan Gunn in it!!! I had no idea this was even happening…I’m there.
Yes- NYCO could have programed operas in other venues. In fact it did present Anthony and Cleopatra at Carnegie Hall. However, full productions haven’t been presented. And I can posit why: opera is the most expensive art form. Installing everything that is needed to put on a production into another working theatre in NYC would be prohibitive.
FYI- the Vox performances are coming up.
Operaboy – while NYCO did present 1 opera in concert for 2 performances, they had to paper the house for both shows, and still, it was not anywhere near full. If NYCO can’t sell two performances of an opera in concert, there is something seriously wrong with their marketing machine. Don’t blame the economy or anything else for this… it was a well known cast, an arguably important piece, and hell, CARNEGIE HALL.
As for producing staged opera in other theaters, it’s not as difficult or prohibitive as you imply. Opera companies around the country perform in shared venues and don’t store their costumes and sets there. There are venues in NYC that have all their own lighting equipment and other related, necessary production equipment, so producing in them is not that complicated or overly expensive relative to producing at their home theater. I’m not talking about Broadway theaters, which are generally rented as empty shells, but venues like City Center, Both of BAM’s theaters, the Rose at JALC, etc. NYCO’s production staff was more than capable of mounting shows elsewhere – they simply didn’t – either for lack of adequate advance planning or for whatever other screwy rationale they may site – it was a stupid and expensive decision.
“If NYCO can’t sell two performances of an opera in concert, there is something seriously wrong with their marketing machine.”
Well, I think at this point that can easily be explained by the fact that they don’t, or didn’t, have a marketing machine. As in actually, physically didn’t have a group of people handling the office. Before and during A&C, the administration was bare-bones, and there was no one to handle that aspect. No doubt they are making every effort to change that situation now.
As for the piece, it seemed to me more about what was going on with the ballet and the house than anything else. City Opera was given a scant paragraph or so at the beginning where Gerard summed up what he has all ready lashed out with before. It didn’t seem particularly bad to me, but he has been beating this drum for some time, and Hoelterhoff let’s him do it, or eggs it on. It probably appears to be more than it is to us since we talk about it constantly on this board, but really, the general public has heard little to nothing about why NYCO has had no season other than Mortier fled from his bad planning.
“Well…there’s always been a propriety interest, in the old State Theater, on the part of NYCB.”
The house was specifically built for the ballet and Balanchine. That was intended as its purpose. However, they simply can’t afford to be there on their own. They need another tenant because they can’t pay the rent. Despite rumors of difficulty between the two companies, I can tell you there was a genuine panic amongst the ballet people when NYCO was looking to build a new home. If NYCO had left the State, the ballet’s future was not at all certain. NYCB and NYCO need each other. Sharing a house is not that big a deal. Ballets, orchestras, theater companies, and opera companies share houses that are much smaller all over the world. It can be done. With people tripping over each other, yes, but it can happen. Other than some acoustical challenges (which have been debated and written about ad nauseum), the house is fine for both.
“Never understood all the venom directed at Mortier here. He must have not hired someone or something like that. Everything I have experienced in my contact with him has been completely contrary to the way he has been portrayed on this site. He is a gentleman, a professional, a passionate artist, and he knows voice.”
As far as this statement is concerned, everything I’ve heard about the man has indicated exactly the opposite. He is an overweening, petty egomaniac. A starry colleague of mine had a recent incident with him where after the incident played out insisted that they would never work anywhere he was managing a company again. I trust this person far more than I trust an anonymous opinion on an opera board. His game with NYCO was repellent and destructive, and may very well kill the company. That has yet to be seen. We’ve hashed this out so thoroughly, and it seems so last year, I honestly don’t think we need to discuss the asshole any further, at least as far as NYCO goes.
It certainly was NYCO’s stated INTENTION to do staged operas at venues around the city, but as I understand it, the logistics were far too complex at a time in the company’s history when money was flowing out, the Mortier mess was developing, and skilled, experienced management had been liberated involuntarily to seek employment elsewhere.
I cannot speak to the QUALITY of the A&C publicity and marketing, but the QUANTITY was impressive. I was getting various styles of mailings about every four days.
Cassandra: Jeesh, you’re going to blame Mortier himself for this mess? First you all don’t want him, now it’s his fault the company is struggling to reinvent itself because he didn’t come over after all? Talk about looking for a scapegoat, a bogeyman. It’s just what I said, anyway. Some people come on here with an axe to grind. It’s all a question of the source of the opinion, isn’t it? I know more than one, in fact any number of “starry colleagues” who would say they respect him and are grateful for his support. They just don’t spend time posting on opera blogs. His seasons at the Bastille have been balanced if you take the trouble to look at them, and he has used both the top rung and the not-so-top-rung singers very effectively. In fact, it would not surprise me if the MET has studied his approach quite seriously, as they import the artists he has used on a regular basis, and I am not talking about the huge names here. It would seem that it is you and others who are relying heavily on hearsay, more than this anonymous poster. I agree with you, it would seem the issue were talked into the ground but sometimes people have to stand up to this kind of crap.
And one more thing: character assasination and vulgar name calling is all good and well when you don’t sign your name to it. I’d encourage those spreading negative stories regarding any of these professionals to stand by their version of events and let the readers decide if the source has a leg to stand on or an impeccable reputation in the business as a whole. I don’t think anyone would take me up on this. Playing God through cyber-bullying, the more powerful the victim the better, is just too thrilling for those who indulge in it , and there is nothing for the perpetrators to lose when identities are kept secret.
Is it true there will be NO NYCO season in 9/10? If there is no season than that is the end of NYCO. That seems to be the bombshell in this story. Other than that it seems like a big yawn to me.
He seems to be critizing NYCO for being relatively quiet in the 8/9 season before Steel even came aboard, once again, this was Baker’s decision. Saying Steel hasn’t reduced the feeling of doom seems pretty accurate, since so far we haven’t had any artistic announcements or pledge or donation announcements, there is nothing to feel excited about. I’d love to hear that some billionaire has written a check for 10M or that we’re getting a new Carmen designed by Phillipe Starck, Kareem Rashid or Chris Bangle. But so far it hasn’t happened. And I bet that it won’t either.
When the Met is mortgaging the Chagall’s no amount of boyish enthusiasm can counteract the fact that things are extremely tough.
However, honestly not to pick a fight with our dear hostess, can we really believe Francesca Zambello’s has the time or the inclination to try to make George Steel look bad?
Hasn’t Mr. Steel shown he can make himself look bad without any help at all? If she even cares isn’t she smart enough to sit back and let him hang himself?
Am I the only person who saw FZ’s interest in taking over NYCO as a philanthropic act designed to save an important opera company? She hardly needs to build her resume via NYCO, and I’m certain the money NYCO could have paid her is a joke compared to what Disney is coughing up for “The Little Mermaid” or what she will make from her points in the “Little House on the Prairie” musical. FZ is distinctly major league and international, it’s just beneath someone like that to take potshots at a minor leaguer.