Mad Scenes and Exit Arias: The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America

by Heidi Waleson

Overview

From the Wall Street Journal's opera critic, a wide-ranging narrative history of how and why the New York City Opera went bankrupt—and what it means for the future of the arts

In October 2013, the arts world was rocked by the news that the New York City Opera—“the people’s opera”—had finally succumbed to financial hardship after 70 years in operation. The company had been a fixture on the national opera scene—as the populist antithesis of the grand Metropolitan Opera, a nurturing home for young American talent, and a place where new, lively ideas shook up a venerable art form. But NYCO’s demise represented more than the loss of a cherished organization: it was a harbinger of massive upheaval in the performing arts—and a warning about how cultural institutions would need to change in order to survive.

Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Heidi Waleson, one of the foremost American opera critics, recounts the history of this scrappy company and reveals how, from the beginning, it precariously balanced an ambitious artistic program on fragile financial supports. Waleson also looks forward and considers some better-managed, more visionary opera companies that have taken City Opera’s lessons to heart.

Above all, Mad Scenes and Exit Arias is a story of money, ego, changes in institutional identity, competing forces of populism and elitism, and the ongoing debate about the role of the arts in society. It serves as a detailed case study not only for an American arts organization, but also for the sustainability and management of nonprofit organizations across the country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250230720
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	632,220
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Heidi Waleson has been the opera critic of the Wall Street Journal for 25 years. In addition to her regular criticism, her work has also focused more broadly on the changing profiles of musical institutions, new models for opera presentation, and the broader significance of opera and culture. She is a faculty member of the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Birth of the "People's Opera" 5

2 The Rudel Years 19

3 Beverly Sills Takes Over 47

4 The Inside Choice: Christopher Keene 81

5 The Man from Upstate: Paul Kellogg 97

6 A Turn for the Worse 123

7 The Savior 143

8 Salvation Denied 167

9 The Man of Steel 183

10 Down the Drain 209

11 The Aftermath 221

12 Reinvention 233

Coda: The Resurrection 253

Acknowledgments 265

Sources 267

Index 277

Editorial Reviews

An intricate whodunit that seeks to find out who murdered the New York City Opera . . . In describing the unraveling of this noble civic enterprise, Waleson gives us a vivid description of each death-defying crisis and a sharp portrait of the ever-changing cast of would-be saviors who somehow always failed in their mission.”
—Edward Sorel, The New York Times Book Review


“Heidi Waleson has written much more than the story of a beloved opera company’s demise—though she does that with verve, wit, a sharp journalistic eye, and deep critical wisdom. She chronicles a venerable art form undergoing a difficult but inevitable evolution, and you finish the book with an unexpected sense of hope.”
—Alex Ross, author of The Rest Is Noise


“Thoroughly researched, factually detailed, judgmentally well-balanced, and engrossing.”
—Opera


“In this richly informative chronicle of NYCO’s decline and fall, Waleson persuasively argues that what happened to City Opera (and, by extension, the Met) could happen to other opera companies as well.”
—Commentary


“Heidi Waleson has delivered a detailed account of the struggles of one of the nation’s most storied opera companies. She goes beneath the surface to examine the underlying social and demographic changes that have shaped New York’s cultural scene over the last half-century and explores essential issues of governance and leadership. It is the story of one organization, with lessons for all.”
—Marc A. Scorca, President and CEO, OPERA America


“Heidi Waleson gives a vivid account of the twilight and fall of NYCO—an almost operatic fable of oversized egos and misplaced trust—and shows what the demise of the original ‘People’s Opera’ may mean for the future of opera and classical music. Truly, a cautionary tale. Her deft analysis and knowing grasp of the material make this essential reading for anyone who cares about opera.”
—Charles MacKay, former general director, the Santa Fe Opera


“Meticulously researched, Mad Scenes and Exit Arias is both a gripping read and a cautionary tale for all lovers of opera and the arts in America today. Yet Heidi Waleson ends not with pessimism but optimism, about the bracing changes transforming American operatic life today.”
—John Rockwell, former arts critic of The New York Times and founding director of the Lincoln Center Festival


“Drawing on extensive research and reporting . . . Waleson’s in-depth study illustrates the challenges City Opera—and other opera houses—face in the 21st century as they seek to preserve tradition and innovate.”
—Publisher’s Weekly


“A thorough recounting of the tumultuous history of the New York City Opera [and] a cleareyed examination of the economic fragility of cultural institutions.”
—Kirkus Reviews


“Illuminating . . . engrossing . . . will be of extraordinary interest to anyone invested in the future of the performing arts.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

…an intricate whodunit that seeks to find out who murdered the New York City Opera…In describing the unraveling of this noble civic enterprise, Waleson…gives us a vivid description of each death-defying crisis and a sharp portrait of the ever-changing cast of would-be saviors who somehow always failed in their mission.

The New York Times Book Review - Edward Sorel

06/25/2018
Waleson, the Wall Street Journal’s longtime opera critic, narrates the stories of grand visions and failed plans in a gripping history of New York’s City Opera. Drawing on extensive research and reporting, Waleson chronicles the successes and failures of the company from its beginnings in 1943 to its demise in 2013 and its resurrection in 2016. In 1943, Newbold Morris, then president of New York’s City Council, and Morton Baum, a clothing manufacturer, put together a group of 46 movers and shakers—including theater producers, philanthropists, and city officials—to organize the City Center of Music and Drama, and hired the Hungarian-born composer Laszlo Halasz to direct the City Opera. From the late 1950s through the mid-’70s principal conductor Julius Rudel kept ticket prices low and produced innovative operas such as Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars. In 1979, Beverly Sills took over as artistic director, bringing her savvy as a fund-raiser and a developer of young singers. George Steel became the company’s general manager and artistic director in 2009 and balanced the opera’s budget by cutting cost. The City Opera nevertheless declared bankruptcy in 2013 after years of struggling to raise money, but it was brought back to life in 2016 by opera producer Michael Capasso and businessman Roy Niederhoffer. Waleson’s in-depth study illustrates the challenges City Opera—and other opera houses—face in the 21st century as they seek to preserve tradition and innovate. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 07/01/2018
Wall Street Journal veteran opera critic Waleson asks, "Who killed [the New York] City Opera?" She then relates the tumultuous history of the "People's Opera," which for much of its existence was a "battered stepchild" in its home at Lincoln Center in the shadow of the much grander Metropolitan Opera. Tracing NYCO's efforts to provide innovative fare at affordable prices while attempting to operate in the red, Waleson enlivens the narrative with quotations from individuals who played major roles in the development—or demise—of the institution, including diva Beverly Sills and conductor and director Julius Rudel, among others. The author further relates issues of fundraising that affected NYCO fortunes and criticizes its board for inept leadership. Chapters on the future of opera and the "reinvention" of NYCO (born 1943, bankrupt 2013, reborn 2016) are illuminating. Waleson writes with authority on the performing arts scene and what can go wrong in the management of arts institutions. VERDICT This engrossing study should find a place in both academic and metropolitan-area libraries and will be of extraordinary interest to opera lovers, arts administrators, and anyone invested in the future of the performing arts. [See Prepub Alert, 4/9/18.]—Edward B. Cone, New York

Library Journal

2018-06-27
The failure of the New York City Opera stands as a cautionary tale for other performing arts companies.Veteran Wall Street Journal opera critic Waleson (Music Criticism/ San Francisco Conservatory of Music) makes her book debut with a thorough recounting of the tumultuous history of the New York City Opera, from its hopeful founding as the People's Opera in 1943 to its sputtering demise in 2013. Championed by New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the opera was meant for audiences who could not afford the ticket prices charged by the Metropolitan Opera. Housed in a dilapidated former temple on Manhattan's 55th Street, the NYCO rented out space to other arts companies and borrowed scenery and costumes in order to keep ticket prices low. Since opera is "the most notoriously expensive of all art forms," the NYCO knew that it risked financial loss. Throughout its history, it scrambled for funding from foundations, philanthropists, and grants. Since it could never afford the major stars who sang at the Met, the NYCO hired beginning singers, who were grateful for employment and the chance of being discovered. By the 1960s, one performer shone: soprano Beverly Sills, who became a "repertory driver, with new operas mounted to showcase roles she wanted to sing." In 1979, Sills took on the directorship of the NYCO. By then, she was famous, but she was hardly ready to confront the company's severe financial deficit. Changing demographics (the company's older audience was dying out), "threadbare artistic level" (even after a move to the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center), and erratic programming reduced the number of ticket holders. Waleson documents the productions, financial struggles, changing roster of ineffectual directors, and boards comprised "of mostly well-intentioned people who were paralyzed by inertia" as forces that led the NYCO finally to declare bankruptcy. She notes with cautious optimism that festivals, art centers, and small, nimble companies—including a recently resurrected City Opera—are striving valiantly to keep opera alive.A cleareyed examination of the economic fragility of cultural institutions.

Kirkus Reviews

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