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New York City Opera
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The New York City Opera was founded in 1943 with the aim of an opera company that would be financially accessible to a wide audience, innovative in its choice of repertory, and a home for American singers and composers.
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The New York City Opera was founded in 1943 with the aim of an opera company that would be financially accessible to a wide audience, innovative in its choice of repertory, and a home for American singers and composers. In the City of New York, NYCO is the second largest opera company, after the Metropolitan Opera.
The early years
In its early years, the company's home base was at City Center on West 55th Street. In 1945, the company became the first major opera company to have an African American performer. This was in the production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with Todd Duncan's performance as Tonio. Lawrence Winters was another notable African American opera pioneer to sing with the company during this period. The first African American woman to sing with the company was Camilla Williams, soprano as Madama Butterfly in 1946. (Southern, 417) Winters and Williams later went on to sing the title roles in the most complete recording made up to that time of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, for Columbia Masterworks Records in 1951.
The present day
On February 22, 1966, it inaugurated its new home at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center (later to be named the David H. Koch Theater) with a production of Alberto Ginastera's Don Rodrigo with tenor Plácido Domingo. In 1966, the American soprano Beverly Sills made her major breakthrough as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare (opposite Norman Treigle in the title role). While Sills went on to sing at opera houses throughout the world, she remained affiliated with the company. Upon her retirement from the stage in 1979, she joined the company as its General Director, replacing conductor Julius Rudel, who had led the company since 1957. Ms. Sills retired as General Director in 1989 and was replaced by conductor Christopher Keene. Keene was succeeded in 1996 by Glimmerglass Opera's artistic director, Paul Kellogg.
The David H. Koch Theater is undergoing major renovations in 2008-09, so the New York City Opera is not presenting a season of staged opera productions this year. The company plans to present a concert version of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra at Carnegie Hall in January 2009, and it continues to make classroom presentations in New York City's public schools.
A note of uncertainty about the company's future emerged in November 2008, when Gerard Mortier, who was scheduled to begin his first official season as General and Artistic Director of the company in 2009, abruptly resigned. The company announced that "The economic climate in which we find ourselves today has caused us both to reconsider proceeding with our plans." Mortier had reportedly been promised a $60 million annual budget, which was cut to $36 million due to the economic climate. Michael Kaiser has been appointed to advise the board on a turnaround strategy, including the recruitment of a new general director. In January 2009, the company announced the appointment of George Steel as general manager and artistic director, effective 1 February 2009.
Ongoing missions
Beverly Sills' success at NYCO is emblematic of the company's tradition of championing American singers. NYCO launched the careers of, among others, Sherrill Milnes, Carol Vaness, John Sandor, and Samuel Ramey. Internationally acclaimed American singers who still call NYCO home include Carl Tanner, David Daniels, Mark Delavan, Mary Dunleavy, Lauren Flanigan, Elizabeth Futral, and Amy Burton.
NYCO similarly champions the work of American composers; approximately one-third of its repertoire has traditionally been American opera. NYCO's American repertoire ranges from established works (e.g., Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, Carlisle Floyd's Susannah and Leonard Bernstein's Candide) to new works (e.g., Rachel Portman's The Little Prince, Charles Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and Mark Adamo's Little Women). NYCO's commitment to the future of American opera is demonstrated in its annual series, VOX: "Showcasing American Opera," in which operas-in-progress are showcased, giving composers a chance to hear their work performed by professional singers and orchestra. NYCO also produces non-traditional operatic repertoire such as works by Stephen Sondheim and Gilbert & Sullivan.
In 1983, New York City Opera became the first American company to use supertitles. In recent years, the works of baroque masters such as Handel, Gluck, and Rameau have gained special prominence in its repertoire, sparking a renewal of interest in these long-neglected works.
The company has extensive education and outreach programs, offering arts-in-education programs to 4,000 students in over thirty schools.
Sources
- The Music of Black Americans: A History. Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0-393-97141-4
- The New York City Opera, by Martin L Sokol, Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc, 1981. ISBN 0-02-612280-4
- New York City Opera Sings, by New York City Opera Guild, Richard Rosen Press, Inc, 1981. ISBN 0-8239-0544-6
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