New York City Opera’s 2017-2018 season promises productions of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, José “Pepe” Martinez’s mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, Montemezzi’s L’Amore dei Tre Re, a double-bill of Donizetti’s Il Pigmalione with Rameau’s Pigmalion and, finally, the U.S. premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain.  The complete press release follows the jump. 

May 24, 2017 – New York City Opera’s 2017/2018 season will offer four new mainstage productions at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, including a Spanish-language opera as part of its Ópera en Español series. City Opera will also offer two New York City Opera Concerts in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and a chamber opera series at locations to be announced. New York City Opera Orchestra will be featured in every opera.

The company once again opens New York’s cultural season with Opening Night on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 featuring a new production of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West. The season continues in October 2017 with the first chamber opera of the season, the New York premiere of Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, based on the novel by Stephen King, in a new chamber adaptation by the composer.

City Opera will present the third installment in its Ópera en Español series in January 2018 with the New York premiere of José “Pepe” Martinez’s mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. Having presented the modern-day revival of Respighi’s La Campana Sommersa last season, City Opera will present another 20^th-century Italian rarity in April 2018, Montemezzi’s L’Amore dei Tre Re. In May 2018, City Opera will offer a double-bill as part of its chamber opera series pairing the New York premiere of Donizetti’s Il Pigmalione with Rameau’s Pigmalion.

The mainstage season concludes in June 2018 with the U.S. premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain, the second installment in City Opera’s LGBT Pride Initiative which begins with performances of Peter Eötvös’s Angels in America at the Rose Theater on June 10, 12, 14 and 16, 2017.

The New York City Opera Concerts series will move to Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall with two one-night-only concerts. The first concert on November 9, 2017 will celebrate the 90^th birthday of the renowned American composer Dominick Argento and will feature the New York City Opera Orchestra conducted by Gil Rose. On February 20, 2018 the Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, in her only U.S. appearance of the season, will take the stage with pianist Donald Sulzen.

New York City Opera is honored to announce the appointment of Tobias Picker as New York City Opera’s Composer-in-Residence. City Opera will present Picker’s new adaptation of his 2013 opera Dolores Claiborne as part of the chamber opera series in October 2017. Last year, City Opera announced that it had commissioned a new opera from Picker, American Venus, based on the life of Audrey Munson.

Michael Capasso, General Director, New York City Opera said, “As this pivotal season in New York City Opera’s history draws to a close, I am thrilled to unveil our exciting plans for the future. Over the past months, the overwhelming response from our enthusiastic audiences, generous patrons, and the artistic community has confirmed City Opera’s vital and enduring role in New York’s thriving cultural scene. Continuing City Opera’s long tradition of diverse and eclectic programming, our upcoming season features relevant and engaging contemporary works alongside rarities and beloved classics. I am also excited to welcome my friend and advisor Tobias Picker to the City Opera Family as Composer-in-Residence. In addition to contributing his own outstanding work, his council will be invaluable in general and in our programming of contemporary works in future seasons.”

Tobias Picker added, “New York City Opera has been at the forefront of engaging with opera as a living art form for nearly three quarters of a century.  I am delighted and honored to join my old friend Michael Capasso as he continues to breathe fresh life into our beloved hometown opera company. When City Opera gave the New York premiere of my first opera Emmeline twenty years ago I felt humbled. Today, I feel privileged to help give life to important operas by my distinguished colleagues.”