It’s been nearly a month since the last spurt of news about the New York City Opera, which, for those of you with not particularly long memories, is or was an opera company just off to the side of the Met at Lincoln Center. Well, now the first big story of March has crossed La Cieca’s desk.…
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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…
UPDATE:Â “Joining City Opera will be Director of Artistic Planning Edward Yim, perhaps best known for playing an integral role in the exciting and highly successful multidisciplinary programming at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Casting Advisor Steven Blier, an eminent pianist and vocal coach who is equally at home in the traditional operatic repertoire and…
In the spirit of the equal time for all impresarios, La Cieca will note that both of New York’s operatic honchos will be making public appearances this week. Tomorrow (February 10)the Met’s Peter Gelb will do his annual season announcment pitch to the media, an event La Cieca will liveblog (connectivity permitting) for your information…
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.
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…
“Dancing in the streets exaggerates only a bit. In Dallas, any tears shed over his departure would barely fill a thimble.” Jeremy Gerard sums up the reaction of George Steel‘s departure from Dallas in Bloomberg News.
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.”…
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…
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…
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…
“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]
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…
Counter Critic reports today that he met George Steel last night and planted his seed.
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…
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…
“George is actually the perfect person for City Opera in this chapter of its institutional life, said the house’s chairwoman, Susan L. Baker. [via NYT] Also: La Cieca hears that Two-Face is already en route to New York City, where he will meet with his new underlings at 11:00 AM Thursday.
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…
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…
La Cieca realizes that you, cher public, are getting as antsy and downright annoyed at the machinations chez NYCO (oh, that’s right, they don’t have a “chez,” do they?) Anyway, as bemoneyed matrons on the NYCO board ravage the Upper West Side whilst hurling millions at each other, La Cieca thought she should put it…
As has happened at least once before, cher public, La Cieca went out on a limb and made a wrong prediction. Thank goodness in this case she only went with a blind item — so at least she hasn’t a whole egg on her face.
La Cieca hears (merci, mon ami Pedro!) that New York City Opera have hammered out a solution to their General Director problem, finding a candidate with far more than journeyman experience who is probably by now ready for a change of scene.
A dramaturg, a renowned actress, an Egyptologist, a Shakespeare expert, an art historian, an opera singer, and Samuel Barber’s biographer walk into… well, not a bar, at least to start with. As a warmup for NYCO’s only opera production of the season, Antony and Cleopatra, the company will present “What Becomes a Legend Most,” a…
Yesterday “nonplused” Counter Critic Ryan Tracy unveiled his detailed plan for his directorship of the New York City Opera. Even if his manifesto is meant less than completely seriously, there are some provocative ideas there. But surely the cher public will have their own opinions.
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