Over At Joshua Kosman's House, Opera Intellectuals Discuss General Director Reigns Of High-Brow Pamela Rosenberg And Euro-Show-Brow Gerard Mortier
Joshua Kosman: "Allow me to ... make the following prediction: Gerard Mortier's tenure as head of the New York City Opera will be brief and ill-starred. I say this without pleasure, indeed with a fervent hope to be proven wrong; but also without much doubt. The reason is that I lived through Pamela [Animating Opera] Rosenberg's brief and ill-starred tenure as head of the San Francisco Opera, and the parallels seem to be shaping up with eerie exactitude.
It would be simplistic and wrong to call Rosenberg's stewardship of the San Francisco Opera a failure — her time here was marked by an invigorating spirit of dventure, and of course a number of genuine theatrical triumphs, including Saint François d'Assise, Le Grand Macabre, and Doctor Atomic. But it was also based on some very deep-rooted errors in judgment, both by her and by the folks who hired her. And the most fundamental one can be summed up in two hypothetical sentences: "It worked in Europe. Why on earth wouldn't it work here?"
You can take that "it" to refer to any number of things: repertoire choices, production styles, casting decisions, marketing strategies, financial priorities. They all apply. The Rosenberg era was based on a belief that San Francisco could become [the Stuttgart State Opera] if we all just wished it hard enough. But Peter Pan isn't an opera, and the observers (out-of-towners, mostly) who still insist that Rosenberg was "run out of town" by mobs of provincial burghers-by-the-bay are actually just mad at reality for failing to conform to their own desires.
Now comes M. Mortier, with what looks from here like the exact same game plan. The priorities he cites in [the May 7, 2007] New York Times interview with Dan Wakin include the familiar intention to "bring in fresh European faces as directors," and his repertoire choices are positively Rosenbergesque: Stravinsky, Janácek, Bartók, and — oh, yeah — Saint François d'Assise.
Well, look, those are my repertoire choices, too; and when I win ten lotteries and can support my own opera company, they'll be on the boards nightly. But the real world isn't so malleable. Because here, if you'll forgive me, is the money quote:
Mr. Mortier said two prospects "scared" him. One is having to raise large amounts of money from private donors without the kind of government money that finances the Paris National Opera.
Exactly. Of all the things that don't replicate well from one side of the Atlantic to the other, funding is number one on the list. Maybe two, three, and four as well. And from there, all things flow.
"It worked in Europe. Why on earth wouldn't it work here?" If history is any guide, M. Mortier and the board that hired him may find out soon enough."
Joshua Kosman "Déjà Vu à la Belge" On the Pacific Aisle May 7, 2007
*
Pacific Visions [sic]
In November of 1992, then General Director Lotfi Mansouri introduced Pacific Visions, an ambitious program designed to maintain the vitality of the opera repertoire through new commissions and the presentation of unusual repertoire. It was launched with the commissioning of the following operas:
The Dangerous Liaisons, composed by Conrad Susa to a libretto by Philip Littell. The work had its premiere during the 1994 Fall Season and was the subject of a nationwide TV broadcast.
Harvey Milk, a new opera by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie. The work was performed in 1996 as a joint commission and co-production of the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and New York City Opera.
A Streetcar Named Desire, composed by André Previn to a libretto by Philip Littell, after the play by Tennessee Williams. The work had its premiere during the 1998-99 Fall Season, which was telecast and released on video.
Dead Man Walking, composed by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Terrence McNally, after the book by Sister Helen Prejean. The work had its premiere during the 2000-2001 Season and was recorded on CD.
Animating Opera
In January of 2001, General Director Pamela Rosenberg announced her first artistic initiative for San Francisco Opera, Animating Opera, a multi-year plan of interwoven themes and series including: Seminal Works of Modern Times, The Faust Project, Composer Portrait: Janacek/Berlioz, Women Outside of Society: Laws Unto Themselves, Metamorphosis: From Fairy Tales to Nightmares, and Outsiders or Pioneers?: The Nature of the Human Condition. Incorporated within the production programming of Animating Opera was the American stage premiere of Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise, Thomson’s The Mother of Us All as well as the new work by John Adams and Peter Sellars, Doctor Atomic.
[Source: History of the San Francisco Opera. San Francisco Opera Web-site.]
Addendum:
Pacific Visions [sic] Redux [under David Gockley]:
Appomattox by Philip Glass and Christopher Hampton. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, directed by Robert Woodruff, designed by Riccardo Hernandez, and featuring Dwayne Croft as Robert E. Lee and Andrew Shore as Ulysses S. Grant. Opens October 5, 2007.
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Stewart Wallace and Bay Area novelist Amy Tan, based upon her best-selling novel.
David Gockley, above, of the San Francisco Opera [and before that of the Houston Grand Opera] is wasting no time Animating American Opera(c) by commissioning opera and music theater artists and writers such as Philip Glass, Stewart Wallace, Christopher Hampton, and Amy Tan.
Does the New York City Opera's incoming Gerard Mortier believe that Animating Opera requires world premieres of works by American artists, or only modern dress productions of [modernist] classics?
OPERA America.
Photo credit: (c) San Francisco Opera. All rights reserved. With thanks.
It would be simplistic and wrong to call Rosenberg's stewardship of the San Francisco Opera a failure — her time here was marked by an invigorating spirit of dventure, and of course a number of genuine theatrical triumphs, including Saint François d'Assise, Le Grand Macabre, and Doctor Atomic. But it was also based on some very deep-rooted errors in judgment, both by her and by the folks who hired her. And the most fundamental one can be summed up in two hypothetical sentences: "It worked in Europe. Why on earth wouldn't it work here?"
You can take that "it" to refer to any number of things: repertoire choices, production styles, casting decisions, marketing strategies, financial priorities. They all apply. The Rosenberg era was based on a belief that San Francisco could become [the Stuttgart State Opera] if we all just wished it hard enough. But Peter Pan isn't an opera, and the observers (out-of-towners, mostly) who still insist that Rosenberg was "run out of town" by mobs of provincial burghers-by-the-bay are actually just mad at reality for failing to conform to their own desires.
Now comes M. Mortier, with what looks from here like the exact same game plan. The priorities he cites in [the May 7, 2007] New York Times interview with Dan Wakin include the familiar intention to "bring in fresh European faces as directors," and his repertoire choices are positively Rosenbergesque: Stravinsky, Janácek, Bartók, and — oh, yeah — Saint François d'Assise.
Well, look, those are my repertoire choices, too; and when I win ten lotteries and can support my own opera company, they'll be on the boards nightly. But the real world isn't so malleable. Because here, if you'll forgive me, is the money quote:
Mr. Mortier said two prospects "scared" him. One is having to raise large amounts of money from private donors without the kind of government money that finances the Paris National Opera.
Exactly. Of all the things that don't replicate well from one side of the Atlantic to the other, funding is number one on the list. Maybe two, three, and four as well. And from there, all things flow.
"It worked in Europe. Why on earth wouldn't it work here?" If history is any guide, M. Mortier and the board that hired him may find out soon enough."
Joshua Kosman "Déjà Vu à la Belge" On the Pacific Aisle May 7, 2007
*
Pacific Visions [sic]
In November of 1992, then General Director Lotfi Mansouri introduced Pacific Visions, an ambitious program designed to maintain the vitality of the opera repertoire through new commissions and the presentation of unusual repertoire. It was launched with the commissioning of the following operas:
The Dangerous Liaisons, composed by Conrad Susa to a libretto by Philip Littell. The work had its premiere during the 1994 Fall Season and was the subject of a nationwide TV broadcast.
Harvey Milk, a new opera by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie. The work was performed in 1996 as a joint commission and co-production of the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and New York City Opera.
A Streetcar Named Desire, composed by André Previn to a libretto by Philip Littell, after the play by Tennessee Williams. The work had its premiere during the 1998-99 Fall Season, which was telecast and released on video.
Dead Man Walking, composed by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Terrence McNally, after the book by Sister Helen Prejean. The work had its premiere during the 2000-2001 Season and was recorded on CD.
Animating Opera
In January of 2001, General Director Pamela Rosenberg announced her first artistic initiative for San Francisco Opera, Animating Opera, a multi-year plan of interwoven themes and series including: Seminal Works of Modern Times, The Faust Project, Composer Portrait: Janacek/Berlioz, Women Outside of Society: Laws Unto Themselves, Metamorphosis: From Fairy Tales to Nightmares, and Outsiders or Pioneers?: The Nature of the Human Condition. Incorporated within the production programming of Animating Opera was the American stage premiere of Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise, Thomson’s The Mother of Us All as well as the new work by John Adams and Peter Sellars, Doctor Atomic.
[Source: History of the San Francisco Opera. San Francisco Opera Web-site.]
Addendum:
Pacific Visions [sic] Redux [under David Gockley]:
Appomattox by Philip Glass and Christopher Hampton. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, directed by Robert Woodruff, designed by Riccardo Hernandez, and featuring Dwayne Croft as Robert E. Lee and Andrew Shore as Ulysses S. Grant. Opens October 5, 2007.
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Stewart Wallace and Bay Area novelist Amy Tan, based upon her best-selling novel.
David Gockley, above, of the San Francisco Opera [and before that of the Houston Grand Opera] is wasting no time Animating American Opera(c) by commissioning opera and music theater artists and writers such as Philip Glass, Stewart Wallace, Christopher Hampton, and Amy Tan.
Does the New York City Opera's incoming Gerard Mortier believe that Animating Opera requires world premieres of works by American artists, or only modern dress productions of [modernist] classics?
OPERA America.
Photo credit: (c) San Francisco Opera. All rights reserved. With thanks.
posted by Garth Trinkl at 10:09 AM
5 Comments:
i'd say that if mortier can pull off the same types of achievements as rosenberg and then get fired, it should be considered a victory as well....so long as these appointments don't create backlash for the next director in line, its a good breath of fresh air.. do you think this is happening now in SF w/the new director?
though it troubles me as well- mortier saying he's worried about the financial aspect- as if he doesn't know how to address it.
I do like the idea of him just putting one opera at a time, the "european model"- this combined w/more publicity could really help give the nyc opera a bigger distinction from the met
i'd say that if mortier can pull off the same types of achievements as rosenberg and then get fired, it should be considered a victory as well....so long as these appointments don't create backlash for the next director in line, its a good breath of fresh air.. do you think this is happening now in SF w/the new director?
though it troubles me as well- mortier saying he's worried about the financial aspect- as if he doesn't know how to address it.
I do like the idea of him just putting one opera at a time, the "european model"- this combined w/more publicity could really help give the nyc opera a bigger distinction from the met
Thanks David. I apologize in the delay in getting your comment posted. Every time I turn off moderation, I have unpleasant surprises. But maybe I'll try again.
Briefly, I think that it is fine that David Gockley is following up on Pamela Rosenberg's Animating Opera with his attempt (a continuation of his many attempts in Houston) to 'animate American opera'. I don't believe the Philip Glass and Amy Tan operas will bankrupt the S.F. house. Do you?
Also, have you reviewed Gockley's list of premieres in Houston?
Gockley is definitely an opera pro, well versed in fundraising in America. (Obviously, Mr. Mortier is not.)
Sorry to be responding in such a hurry today.
Best,
G.
Not sure about Amy Tan, but yes, smaller ensembles and stagings concentrating on new media rather than large sets should be integrated more, as in the Glass works..i wish the repertoire for these things was larger, but i don't know of too much....glad to hear Gockley is a good businessman, though hope to see some more interesting composers.
and no worries about things taking "too much time"- i'm not very quick myself...best,
david
Thanks again for commenting, David.
I agree completely with you regarding the need for more flexible stagings and new media, and for David Gockley and Mortier to engage with new composers. Again, I believe that Gockley was able to be more experimental in Houston where he premiered Meredith Monk's Atlas, as well as new works almost every year. (I also hope that Jonathan Khuner's troupe will soon be in the position to put some serious pressure on Mr. Gockley and the SFO to be creative and nurture the Bay Area's composing pool. A generation ago, people looked to Theater Artaud, in SOMA.)
My matra for many years has been that member companies of 'Opera America' should commit themselves to performing one American opera --new, recent, or older -- each and every season. Only then, I believe, will we have the national opera culture like that in Imperial Russia before 1914, which led to so many now canonic Russian masterpieces. (It helped that the Imperial opera houses in Moscow and Saint Petersburg competed with one another. And of course, the chaos after 1918 led to the chamber masterpieces of Stravinsky.)
The Washington National Opera now commits to one American opera every season, but there is now pressure on Domingo and the WNO Board to abandon this commitment. I'd love to see the MET and the NYCO each do one American opera each season!
But I'm not being only blindly nationalist, and I'm looking forward to Birtwistle's Theseus at Covent Garden next season, and seeing whether that work is more exportable/importable than his and his colleagues earlier experiments in the operatic media. Again, I'm glad that Gockley is commited to back-to-back American world premieres, at the same time that I'm keeping an eye on Birtwistle in London, and others in places such as Dresden (where you might want to visit for a time, given its experimental music studios). I foresee Mortier offering Boesmans and Bondy's A Winter's Tale (which I saw in Vienna), in an early season at the NYCO. (Whereas I don't imagine Gockley interested in such a work.)
In haste. Thanks again.
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