20th-Century Opera Takes Center Stage in New York City Opera's 2010-2011 Season

New York City Opera General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel today announced the company's 2010-2011 season, which spotlights American composers and 20th-century works within a mix of world premieres, New York premieres and new productions. Offering audiences the opportunity to experience new and rarely performed operas as well as modern interpretations of traditional repertoire, the 2010-2011 season will also feature the launch of a concert series showcasing the non-operatic works of several of the composers of this season's operas. Taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the recent renovation of the company's home, the David H. Koch Theater, the concert series expands the repertoire and programming of City Opera and casts new light on the season's productions.

Among the artists to be featured during the season are soprano Lauren Flanigan as Myra Foster (a role created for her) in Stephen Schwartz's Séance on a Wet Afternoon, soprano Stefania Dovhan (who debuted as Donna Anna in City Opera's 2009 production of Don Giovanni) as Adina in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, soprano Mary Dunleavy as Christine in Strauss's Intermezzo, baritone Louis Otey as Sam in Bernstein's A Quiet Place, and soprano Cyndia Sieden in Morton Feldman's "Neither." Joining them will be a host of debut artists, continuing City Opera's mission of nurturing young singers, while the concert series will bring talents including Christine Brewer, Kristin Chenoweth, Raúl Esparza, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson to the City Opera stage.

"With this season, we take another step forward on an exciting journey for New York City Opera," stated George Steel. "I'm thrilled that we have three new productions, that we're presenting four premieres of works by American composers-all of them New Yorkers-and that we're exploring new programming possibilities, both with our triple bill of mini-operas and with the new concert series. Most of all, I love the incredible range of compositional styles this season: from the transparent simplicity of Donizetti to the opulent middle-period Richard Strauss to the blend of the popular and classical worlds in Bernstein and Stephen Schwartz-all this topped off by the delicious trio of Schoenberg, Feldman and Zorn. This is what City Opera was made to do, and what makes City Opera unique."

The fall season will feature two operas that present contrasting takes on dysfunctional domesticity: Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place - a work never before performed in New York, in a new production directed by Christopher Alden - and Richard Strauss's Intermezzo. Adding to the excitement of the fall season will be a concert program, performed twice, that will illuminate A Quiet Place by celebrating the range of Leonard Bernstein, including music from the Kaddish Symphony and Mass to On the Town and West Side Story.

The new capabilities of the renovated David H. Koch Theater, including an enlarged and adjustable orchestra pit coupled with a new fire curtain that provides an acoustically reflective surface, transform the theater into an ideal concert hall for special programming. City Opera's Fall Gala, An Evening with Christine Brewer, on Thursday, October 28, stars one of the world's most sought-after sopranos and takes advantage of this increased flexibility of the renovated theater. The evening will include selections from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Puccini's Turandot and Richard Strauss's lieder, with Ms. Brewer joined by the New York City Opera Orchestra and Music Director George Manahan.

The spring season will open with a revival of Jonathan Miller's production of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. This is followed by an audacious triple bill called Monodramas: Arnold Schoenberg's "Erwartung" (Expectation), Morton Feldman's "Neither" (with a libretto by Samuel Beckett) and John Zorn's "La Machine de l'être", a program that epitomizes City Opera's mission through both its innovative format and progressive repertoire. As its final production of 2010-2011, City Opera will present the New York premiere of Stephen Schwartz's first opera, the psychological thriller Séance on a Wet Afternoon.

This season's new concert series continues through the spring with John Zorn & Friends, featuring the experimental music master with avant-garde innovators Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine and Zorn himself; and Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz, a program of the composer's songs from his acclaimed Broadway shows and film scores. Scheduled to appear are two major stars of screen and stage, Kristin Chenoweth and Raúl Esparza.

For the whole family, City Opera presents a special matinee concert, a benefit performance of Where the Wild Things Are, based on the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak, with a score by Oliver Knussen set to a libretto by Sendak himself.

VOX Contemporary American Opera Lab, City Opera's annual showcase of new American operas, will continue in the 2010-11 season in its 11th edition.

Underscoring its commitment to make opera affordable for all New Yorkers, New York City Opera will continue its popular Opera For All initiative in 2010-2011. A total of 625 seats - all under $25 - will be sold in advance for most performances through subscription (and through single ticket sales starting September 7, 2010).

About the Productions

John Zorn & Friends
Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at 8:00 pm
Avant-garde innovators Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas and Uri Caine perform with experimental music master John Zorn in a series of mind-bending sonic compositions and no-holds-barred improvisations.

Family Opera in Concert: Where the Wild Things Are
Saturday, April 9, 2011, at 1:30 pm
Bring the whole family to a special matinee concert and benefit, featuring the fantastical opera based on the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak. Composed by Oliver Knussen to a libretto by Sendak himself, this enchanting work (last performed at City Opera in 1987) tells the tale of Max, a little boy with a wild imagination. City Opera is proud to affirm its mission of nurturing young American singers by presenting the Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center in this performance of Where the Wild Things Are. Conductor Julian Kuerti makes his company debut leading Fellows from the renowned Tanglewood Music Center.

Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz
Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 8:00 pm
A salute to the composer of Séance on a Wet Afternoon with this program of songs from his acclaimed Broadway and film works, including Wicked, Godspell, Pippin and Enchanted. Kristin Chenoweth and Raúl Esparza are scheduled to appear. This concert will be followed by City Opera's Spring Gala.

Subscriptions and Tickets
Subscriptions for New York City Opera's 2010-2011 season will be on sale beginning March 9, 2010, and can be purchased online at nycOpera.com or by phone at (212) 496-0600. Subscriptions start at $36 ($12 per ticket).

Single tickets will be on sale beginning September 7, 2010. Ticket prices start at $12. New York City Opera stage productions will take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center (63rd St. & Columbus Ave). Weekday performances, with the exception of Tuesdays, begin at 8:00pm. Tuesday performances begin at 7:30pm. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00pm; matinees begin at 1:30pm.

Sponsors and Supporters
New York City Opera gratefully acknowledges the following institutions for their leadership support of our 2010-2011 Season: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Estate of Ruth Klotz, Lincoln Center Corporate Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.

Production support for A Quiet Place generously provided by Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Production support for The Elixir of Love generously provided by Emilie Roy Corey. Original production support generously provided by The Reed Foundation.

Production support for Monodramas: "La Machine de l'être", "Erwartung" and "Neither" generously provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

American Airlines is the Official Airline of New York City Opera.

The 2010-2011 Season is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About New York City Opera
Since its founding in 1943, New York City Opera has been recognized as one of America's preeminent cultural institutions, celebrated for its adventurous programming and innovative, risk-taking production style. The company's wide-ranging repertory of 275 works spans five centuries of music and includes 29 world premieres and 61 American and/or New York premieres of such notable works as Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shostakovich's Katerina Ismailova, Busoni's Doktor Faust, Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges and The Flaming Angel, Zimmermann's Die Soldaten, Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, and Glass' Akhnaten. The company has been a leading showcase for young artists, helping to launch the careers of more than 3,000 singers, including José Carreras, Phyllis Curtin, David Daniels, Plácido Domingo, Lauren Flanigan, Elizabeth Futral, Jerry Hadley, Catherine Malfitano, Bejun Mehta, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Gianna Rolandi, Beverly Sills, Norman Treigle, Tatiana Troyanos, and Carol Vaness. In 1983, City Opera made operatic history when it became the first American Opera Company to use supertitles, an innovation that has revolutionized the way opera is produced and appreciated worldwide. In November 2009, under new General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel, the company inaugurated the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater, the shared home of New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, following a joint $107 million project to refurbish and modernize the theater and enhance both the artistic and visitor experience.

 

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