tough guys
Peter Gelb‘s million-dollar salary and the wit and wisdom of George Steel (“Things are tough”) are among the axes ground in Sunday’s Tony Tommasini think piece. [NYT]
man of steel
day two: ominous!
“He said he knew something was wrong when George Steele stopped answering his questions after their parachute deployed.” [The Press Association]
the first hundred days
In all the hoopla about casting at the Met, everyone seems to have forgotten that today was George Steel‘s inauguration day as General Director of the New York City Opera. Day One: No news.
other than that, mr. lincoln
La Cieca is naturally drawn to a headline reading “Upheaval at the Opera House” as bees to honey or ugly to a bear. Imagine her surprise, then, when the titular upheaval has nothing to do with Dallas Opera, the New York City Opera, La Scala, or even the Met. So far as she can make […]
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.” […]
nyco roundup
The people have spoken, and so from henceforth George Steel will be known by his, whatchamacallit, you know, his sobriquet, which (per your decree) is “The Man of Steel.” La Cieca thought she should review at least a couple of the biggest challenges facing The Man of Steel as he and the NYCO begin a restoration project […]
nyco roundup
Before we start our daily Steelathon, La Cieca wants to ask you, cher public: which nickname should your doyenne use in future for the NYCO’s new honcho: “Two-Face” or “The Man of Steel?” Okay, so our first story of the day is an editorial in the New York Times welcoming, well, you know who to […]
all steel, all the time
Given the probable continued volume of news concerning the New York City Opera, its new General Manager, and the various melodramas thereto, La Cieca will institute a new policy starting today. A single post will serve to anchor all the NYCO news for the day, with updates as needed. This will also help to centralize […]
lowering the bar (even further)
“All that is needed now is for Mr. Steel to get the company back onstage. Even a limited comeback season would be a triumph.” [NYT]
loose lips
La Cieca tries to be charitable, especially to members of her own gender, but she has come to the conclusion that it is time for Susan Baker to shut the hell up. NYCO’s new General Director has been chosen and is about to take office, and the more Baker yammers, the more she makes George […]
the joy of the worm
Counter Critic reports today that he met George Steel last night and planted his seed.
steel yourselves
Our Own JJ takes to the airwaves this afternoon to yak about the new regime at NYCO. He’ll be on “Soundcheck” on WNYC between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. La Cieca is told that George Steel himself will also be on the program, so she will caution JJ to be sparing in his use of the […]
dick or no dick?
In what will probably stand in history as her most wrong-headed judgment call ever, on December 24 La Cieca concluded that George Steel would not accept an offer from the New York City Opera. Your doyenne cited two reasons for her position: first, that the job wouldn’t have much in the way of art to […]
two-face
In a startling double-reverse action, the board of the New York City Opera has chosen George Steel as the company’s new General Director. The formal announcement of Steel’s appointment made moments ago (as, need one say, La Cieca predicted) in the New York Times. Steel, whose 14-week incumbency as General Manager of Dallas Opera has […]
ignorance is strength?
La Cieca is hearing grumbles (second and third hand, but the hands are mostly reliable ones) that the current skeleton staff of the New York City Opera are being kept in the dark by the company’s board about future plans. In particular, La Cieca hears that one detail that will obviously be revealed in the […]
steel will say no to nyco
Okay, La Cieca’s going to commit and say that based on what hearsay she’s heard said thus far, George Steel is going to say, “Thanks but no thanks” to the NYCO. Why? Two reasons, La Cieca would say. 1. Whoever takes on the NYCO job, no matter how adventurous and no matter how well-connected, is […]
prepare yourself for a newsdump
He’s interested. He’s not interested. And yet, he’s still in the running. According to former NYCO honcho Mark Weinstein, “…the embattled company will appoint George Steel, the former director of Columbia University’s Miller Theater, to the [director] position in early January.” Need I add that Susan Baker hasn’t answered the phone in days? Now, La Cieca loves […]
mirror, mirror
According to Bloomberg News, George Steel is interested in running the New York City Opera. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that George Steel is not interested in running the New York City Opera. What is clear, though, is that La Cieca had the story first.
he is city opera?
UPDATE: La Cieca’s going to go out on a limb here and say that at the very least George Steel will be offered the direction of NYCO. Industry insiders are whispering that a certain impresario who recently upgraded his career from uptown new music maven to regional opera honcho may be about to prove that he is […]
home team
RogerEvansOnline reports that George Steel, executive director of Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, will be the new general director of the Dallas Opera. La Cieca would like to take a moment to recognize the “man bites dog” novelty angle of this story: Steel is not British.
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I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
