The Times put out an interesting article the other day suggesting some paths for the reinvention of the New York City Opera. It compares it to some of the up and comping companies starting around the city such as Gotham Chamber Opera – the same company that premiered Nico Muhly’s new opera “Dark Sister”. While inspiring and wonderful to see new companies rise, the City Opera has an establishment appeal that it should use for good.
While the City Opera has gone through some tough patches in the past few years, they are not yet dead. With cutting its budget for singers and production, leaving its home in Lincoln Center, the door is wide open for local freelance musicians, artist and directors to leave a new mark on the opera world.
There are plenty of people throughout the New York area that can support productions, with the right push. Its apparent. What City Opera has is an incredible opportunity to fill a void left by the Met.
While the Met is broadening its horizons with HD broadcasts and new productions that push the envelope (some that have scare the white hairs away) they are left without some of the staple productions, which at the time of their runs, were the best world. New productions of Tosca and Don Giovanni at the Met, operas of supreme importance to the opera world, have all but flopped under the new vision of Peter Gelb.
The New York City Opera needs not to be concerned with cost. We know the money is there (somewhere). It is just a matter of finding the right person(s) that will actually invest or help find investors to build a local, cultural alternative to the Met.
City Opera needs to find artists and musicians who are willing to create a contrasting alternative to the vastly left field direction that the Met is taking (I don’t mean that negatively). As Wolfe mentioned in the article, there needs to be a solid outlet for young singers and musicians in New York and that simply doesn’t exist with the Met organization.
The folks over at NYCO have an unbelievable chance to become reacquainted with their NYC roots and help develop performing arts around the area. They need to focus on outreach as well as building inspiring productions in cooperation with the resources that exist throughout the area. With the right nudge and some open thinking, anything can happen.
(Source: realfaust.us)
