Not sure if anyone noticed, but in all the hoopla over the sudden announcement and then disappointment of Gerard Mortier attempting to mount a takeover of Bayreuth with Nike Wagner, one of the copious Wagnerian diasporites, Mortier let slip this bit of information in an email message sent to The Times through a spokesperson:
…he said he was concerned about the future of the Bayreuth Festival. At the same time, he added that he wanted to send a signal to City Opera board members who are unhappy with his programming choices and who have not increased financial support.
Now, y’all know C.C. has a big hard-on for Gerard Mortier. But WTF does Mortier mean “to send a signal”?
Some of the hard-core fanatics over at Partere Box are speculating that Mortier is trying to leave NYCO before his tenure even begins, but no one seems to know why.
In Mortier’s statement in The Times, he claimed that the Bayreuth gig–which he didn’t get–wouldn’t have infringed on his committment to NYCO. But rumors are starting to churn that there may be more to Mortier’s failed coup-de-Bayreuth.
I hope either the board at City Opera wises up, or Mortier cools off. It would be a complete and utter shame if New York loses out on what, at the very least, would be quite an injection of adrenaline to its opera culture.
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