In Sunday’s (12/19) New York Times, Anthony Tommasini writes, “In the face of severe economic challenges many performing-arts institutions are panicking. But this is exactly the wrong time for an institution to compromise its mission. Staffs may have to be trimmed; offerings may have to be scaled back. But why the institution matters must come through more than ever in its programming. For a model of how to respond with purpose, look to the New York City Opera under George Steel, now in his second season as general manager and artistic director. Not long ago this essential company, grappling with accumulated financial problems, came close to going under. … Mr. Steel has brought renewed energy and vision to the company, as was demonstrated this fall by a revelatory production of Bernstein’s overlooked opera ‘A Quiet Place,’ inventively directed by Christopher Alden, with a strong, committed cast and a dynamic young American conductor, Jayce Ogren. Instead of playing it safe, City Opera championed a work that had been dismissed.”
Posted December 21, 2010
