We here at Superconductor would like to take this opportunity to welcome the New York City Opera back among the ranks of functioning and open opera companies.
Based at the David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater) the City Opera is an important company and an important facet in the cultural life of opera-loving New Yorkers. The company, now under the direction of former Dallas Opera main man George Steel is playing a shortened four-opera season in their newly-renovated digs after spending the entire 2008-2009 season in an involuntary exile from Lincoln Center.
The new house (well really the old house) has had a total face-lift, with new seats, improved acoustics, the addition of elevators to the pit, and most importantly, the removal of the noxious amplification system that was put in under the direction of former Director Paul Kellogg. Kellogg had installed the system to cope with the notoriously opera-unfriendly acoustics of the State Theater, a theater that was, from its opening, always better suited to its other tenant, the New York City Ballet.
The fall City Opera schedule featuring a production of Don Giovanni and a revival of Esther, the Biblical opera by Howard Weisgall. Esther is based on the same Biblical story that is celebrated every year at Purim. The opera features NYCO house diva Lauren Flanigan in the title role, an exceptional vocal artist who is reason alone to get tickets. And the tickets are going fast--City Opera just added an extra performance in an effort to meet demand.
