George Steel has called for a mediator (pictured) to attempt to summon the departed spirit of the New York City Opera. [New York Times]
Is Peter Gelb wearing too many hats? Anthony Tommasini seems to think so, 
NYCO’s George Steel has “…a vision of gradually increasing productions, arriving at 10, with 40 performances…. the company would reach the 10-production benchmark by 2025…. Only about 10 percent of revenue this season is predicted to come from the box office, with the rest mainly provided by donors. The ratio does not change much over the phased growth plan, meaning that only $1 or $1.50 out of $10 will come from ticket purchases.” [New York Times]
La Cieca is always happy (if a little envious) when another critic expresses exactly how she feels about a musical event (such as Jonas Kaufmann‘s recital last Sunday at the Met) because that means she doesn’t have to blather on and on about it. Instead she can simply reply, “Check out what Zachary Woolfe has to say in the New York Times.”
Not only has physical therapy healed Mariusz Kwiecien‘s shapely back, it’s apparently added a third to the top of his range. [New York Times]
Yes, yes, La Cieca realizes that parterre has gone “All Anna All the Time,” but, hey, she’s opening the Met season in a company premiere, plus we like her. Anyway, La Netrebko is profiled, covered, revealed, reported, what she eats and when and where, whom she knows and where she was and when and where she’s going—and besides that a teensy moment of tsurris with a corset, all in the Sunday Times cover story by Zachary Woolfe.
“With the news this month that James Levine had slipped and injured a vertebra while vacationing in Vermont… Fabio Luisi became the company’s music director in all but name.” [New York Times]
The Man of Steel is in danger again, this time from a new gang of supervillains: Lila and DeWitt Wallace. [NYT]
Cher Public