In Wednesday’s (3/10) New York Times, Daniel J. Wakin reports, “The struggling New York City Opera, operating with a slender financial cushion, announced plans on Tuesday for another stripped down, five-production season but said it would add a series of concert performances. The company announced two productions for the fall: ‘A Quiet Place’ by Leonard Bernstein, which City Opera said had never been staged in New York City, and a revival of Strauss’s ‘Intermezzo.’ In the spring it will bring back a Jonathan Miller production of ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’ by Donizetti, which was last at the house in 2006; a bill of three short operas by John Zorn, Arnold Schoenberg and Morton Feldman; and the first opera by Stephen Schwartz, veteran of Broadway musicals including ‘Godspell,’ ‘Pippin’ and ‘Wicked.’ His work, ‘Séance on a Wet Afternoon,’ is based on the novel by Mark McShane and its film adaptation. … New York City Opera jumped into concert giving last season by necessity while its home, the New York State Theater, underwent a major renovation. Work included creating a pit that can rise and fall.” General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel expects the company to balance its budget for the first time in years.
Posted March 10, 2010
