It's not yet noon of a rainy Wednesday and already this morning, two pieces of news, one great one lousy.
Lousy first. The New York Times reports that The New York City Opera is selling off its sets and costumes of previous productions. Costumes worn by the displaced and unemployed NYCO Chorus, not to mention Sills, Domingo, Triegle, Rolandi, Alexander, Lewis, Curtin, Gramm, Bible, Lankston...need I go on? Designs by Maurice Sendak-gone. The 2009 production of Don Giovanni (2009!) probably the company's last hit-gone. I'm sure Beni Montresor's Turandot and Magic Flute are on the discard hit, if not already destroyed in a 1985 fire-and the unit set for Giulio Cesare designed by Ming Cho Lee. The costume-or lack thereof-worn by Norman Treigle in Mefistofele.
Company General Director George Steel cites the rising storage costs and gets off more than one snarky remark.
Remarking that the strange situation has been expensive fir a long time, "I feel like you're making a false story. It's been a complicated money loser for a long time, and we're trying to sort it out.:
And note the NYCO pater familias conductor Julius Rudel, now in his 90s: "It's the final nail in the coffin. Thee is no more company:"
The mail however, just happen to bring an aircheck of the New York City Opera's 1980 Cenerentola by Rossini with a wonderful City Opera cast: Suzanne Marsee, Gianna Rolandi, Rockwell Blake, Alan Titus, and by (briefly) office mate Brian Salesky, now GD in Knoxville. He kept trying to get me to do EST-but was a good guy withal. I was an intern from nYU, at 22 at my most arrogant, obnoxious and immature. To this day I bless the kindness and patience of Nancy Kelly.
The proof is in the viewing and the listening. You can give away the costume, but YouTube lives on!
No comments:
Post a Comment