Opera Chic

Gerry's Golden Parachute

 
NYCO paid Gerry Mortier a cool $400,000 for refusing to work as their general manager.

He flies first class.

Mortier Speaks: "I Accepted Sacrifices For NYCO, But There Are Limits, "Lissner A Natural For Paris in 2013"

Gerry Mortier, that little barrel (Barrique?) of surprises, finally spake to his hometown newspaper, Le Monde.

Re: his decision to pull out of the NYCO directorship: "I had been promised a 60 million dollars budget, then it was reduced because of the crisis. I accepted sacrifices, but there are limits".

Re: his tenure in Paris, he brags of having lowered the average age of the operagoers and of having created five euro tickets targeted to the young; he mentioned he had been offered Berlin but "Barenboim and I would be two tigers on the same mountain".  He admits his new post, Madrid's Teatro Real, is not one of the world's top opera houses, but he appreciates the challenge because he considers Spanish audiences to be progressive, unlike the French and most other big opera house audiences.

He finally drops a little bomb meant to create a few ripples here in Milan; re: Scala GM Stéphane Lissner he says: "The Spanish wanted Lissner, too. But I think he is the natural future director of Opéra de Paris in 2013".

Probably news to Milan mayor and -- under the weird statute it enjoys -- Scala CEO Letizia Moratti, who plans to keep Lissner in charge of La Scala until the 2015 Expo year.

Bring in the people, blah blah, 35% of the program devoted to the 20th century, blah, blah, export more productions, blah

Gerard Mortier's Commencement Speech at Teatro Real, Madrid

Unemployed Belgian Man Finally Finds Job In Spain

**Teatro Real lends a helping hand**

Hold onto Your Hats: Gerardo & NYCO Come Clean [full stop]

The undeniably secksay Michael Rice of the undeniably awesome OperaNow! hints that the New York City Opera's PR staff is currently working overtime.

No word if the anticipated steamy, top secret PR copy relays information about Mortier, or the unstable future of the NYCO -- or both. The only sure thing is that it will be here at the latest on Monday. You can F5 F5 F5 to your heart's content here.

{Update} Well, it's official, The New York Times reports that Mortier is OUTTA THARE!!

Waffle Time! No NYCO For Morty...

Rock solid reporting in Austria's Wiener Zeitung indicates that Gérard Mortier may very well never come to NYCO, after all, as was already divined by big sister la Cieca, what with the financial crisis and all. The paper will run more with the strange little Frenchman [Belgianman, whatevs] next week...

For now, Wiener Zeitung speculates the fallout for reasons that Mortier is dissatisfied with the low artistic standards of the NYCO (in comparison to the houses and festivals he's worked with in the past), the bad name that "Eurotrash" direction has in America, and the financial limitations that the struggling NYCO will put on his ~artistic visions~. Time to jump on your backcycle & backpeddle!

Mortier Not Dumping NYCO For That German Lady With A Sneaker's Name

Afraid of Gerry dumping NYCO?

See if this helps.

``Part of the Wagner family insisted that I assist Nike Wagner in her possible leadership of the Bayreuth Festival,'' Mortier said in an e-mailed response to a query. ``With their six- week season (plus rehearsals period), Bayreuth should not affect my work for the New York City Opera. On the contrary, it could reinforce the international stature of City Opera.''

Really afraid of Cambreling taking Bayreuth?

Can't help you with that.

BREAKING NEWS Just Do It: Gerard Mortier Plan To Take Over Bayreuth

Gerard Mortier, sneaky little man, adds a new surprising chapter in The Denazification of Bayreuth soap opera:

Belgian opera impresario Gerard Mortier is teaming up with Nike Wagner, great-granddaughter of composer Richard Wagner, in a bid to run the legendary Bayreuth Festival, a report said Monday.

Quoting Nike Wagner, 63, the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the two had faxed a joint letter of application to the festival's ruling body, the Stiftungsrat. It meets on September 1 to nominate a successor to 88-year-old Wolfgang Wagner, who has headed Bayreuth for the past 57 years.

The FAZ story is hier, and more hier.

When Tony Met Gerry: Mortier Comes Clean In The NYT

"I want to bring change, but not change everything”