UPDATE: Opera Orchestra of New York music director Eve Queler has confided the sad news that the company is closing its doors permanently at the end of the current season to cast members of the upcoming L’arlesiana, La Cieca has just heard.

Queler has reportedly spilled the beans to at least one other OONY mainstay, a superstar tenor who (La Cieca hears) is toying with the idea of organizing a gala fundraiser to rescue the company.

When asked to comment on Opera Orchestra’s future, press representative Aleba Gartner replied via email “All I can say right now is that OONY will be announcing plans for next season shortly.”

La Cieca reported last night that she had just heard “something pretty startling” — that Opera Orchestra of New York will shut down permanently after this season. According to our source, the board of directors of the company have already made the decision; all that remains is to complete the 2006-2007 program with L’arlesiana on February 21.

In its 35 year history, OONY has presented the American premieres of Puccini’s Edgar, Boito’s Nerone, Smetana’s Libuse and the Russian language version of Tchaikovsky’s Orleanskaya Deva, marking the American premiere of the Russian language version of this opera.

OONY has also presented such rarities such as Wagner’s Rienzi; Verdi’s I Lombardi, I masnadieri, Aroldo, and La battaglia di Legnano; Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles; Catalani’s La Wally; Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine, Les Huguenots, and Robert le Diable; Berlioz’ Lélio and Benvenuto Cellini; Smetana’s Dalibor; Donizetti’s La Favorita; Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini; Dvorak’s Rusalka and Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina.

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