Last night, C.C. stopped by incoming City Opera General Manager Gerard Mortier’s lecture “The Enchantment of Opera” at the Morgan Library. We’ll do a full post on it later, but for now, you need to know this juicy morsel of information:
Mortier has asked ultra-violent filmmaker Michael Haneke to direct a production of “Cosi fan Tutte” for Mortier’s second season. Haneke directed “Don Giovani” for Mortier at the Paris Opera.
Als I’m sayin’ is New York better get ready for Msr. Mortier. He means business, and his business is looking fierce.
3 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
To be precise, the “Cosi” will be in Mr. Mortier’s *third* season: there’s going to be the abbreviated 2008-09 season while renovations take place at the State Theatre, then the “Buwahahahaha no bel canto or Verdi or baroque for you, no, not yours” season in 2009-10. The Mozart et al. stuff will be there in 2010-11.
It’s been hilarious to read the dismay his appointment from some quarters, like he’s going to *gasp* only program stuff like Birtwistle, Berg and Schoenberg (heaven for me, hell for most others). He’s on record as not liking Puccini, so the days of 173 performances a season of “Butterfly” are probably gone, but past the 2009-10 season, it’ll be a mix of the old and new. His final Paris Opera season, the 2008-09, is probably what to expect going forward.
Now if he can only make the State Theatre more singer friendly……
[...] New York City Opera. The Mortier reign doesn’t begin until next year, but the city has been abuzz ever since the news broke last [...]
[...] New York City Opera. The Mortier reign doesn’t begin until next year, but the city has been abuzz ever since the news broke last [...]