Mad Scenes and Exit Arias
The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the Wall Street Journal's opera critic, a wide-ranging narrative history of how and why the New York City Opera went bankrupt—and what it means for the future of the arts
In October 2013, the arts world was rocked by the news that the New York City Opera—“the people’s opera”—had finally succumbed to financial hardship after 70 years in operation. The company had been a fixture on the national opera scene—as the populist antithesis of the grand Metropolitan Opera, a nurturing home for young American talent, and a place where new, lively ideas shook up a venerable art form. But NYCO’s demise represented more than the loss of a cherished organization: it was a harbinger of massive upheaval in the performing arts—and a warning about how cultural institutions would need to change in order to survive.
Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Heidi Waleson, one of the foremost American opera critics, recounts the history of this scrappy company and reveals how, from the beginning, it precariously balanced an ambitious artistic program on fragile financial supports. Waleson also looks forward and considers some better-managed, more visionary opera companies that have taken City Opera’s lessons to heart.
Above all, Mad Scenes and Exit Arias is a story of money, ego, changes in institutional identity, competing forces of populism and elitism, and the ongoing debate about the role of the arts in society. It serves as a detailed case study not only for an American arts organization, but also for the sustainability and management of nonprofit organizations across the country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Waleson, the Wall Street Journal's longtime opera critic, narrates the stories of grand visions and failed plans in a gripping history of New York's City Opera. Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Waleson chronicles the successes and failures of the company from its beginnings in 1943 to its demise in 2013 and its resurrection in 2016. In 1943, Newbold Morris, then president of New York's City Council, and Morton Baum, a clothing manufacturer, put together a group of 46 movers and shakers including theater producers, philanthropists, and city officials to organize the City Center of Music and Drama, and hired the Hungarian-born composer Laszlo Halasz to direct the City Opera. From the late 1950s through the mid-'70s principal conductor Julius Rudel kept ticket prices low and produced innovative operas such as Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars. In 1979, Beverly Sills took over as artistic director, bringing her savvy as a fund-raiser and a developer of young singers. George Steel became the company's general manager and artistic director in 2009 and balanced the opera's budget by cutting cost. The City Opera nevertheless declared bankruptcy in 2013 after years of struggling to raise money, but it was brought back to life in 2016 by opera producer Michael Capasso and businessman Roy Niederhoffer. Waleson's in-depth study illustrates the challenges City Opera and other opera houses face in the 21st century as they seek to preserve tradition and innovate.
