BEHIND THE CURTAIN FALL 2010 Gotham Chamber Opera is the nation’s foremost com- IL MONDO DELLA LUNA pany dedicated to producing rarely-performed chamber Best “off-Broadway” opera production 2010 Parterre Box – May 20, 2010 operas from the Baroque era to the present. Our mission is to pres- GREETINGS ent innovative, fully-staged FROM OUR productions of the highest El gato quality in intimate venues. PRESIDENT At the Summer 2005 Lincoln Center Festival, Gotham’s production of Respighi’s La bella con botas NEAL GOREN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR dormente nel bosco (Sleeping Beauty) From October 1 to 10, Gotham Chamber Opera delightfully animated the composer’s lush and Tectonic Theater Project will join forces to harmonies with the magical puppetry present the United States premiere of Xavier DAVID BENNETT MANAGING DIRECTOR of Basil Twist. Those of you who fondly Montsalvatge’s El gato con botas (Puss in Boots). remember this spectacle will be especially As a presentation of the New Victory Theater at 209 West 42nd St., our production will be BOARD OF DIRECTORS excited by our Fall 2010 production: Xavier Montsalvatge’s El gato con botas (Puss in directed by Moisés Kaufman (Broadway’s 33 Variations, The Laramie Project, I Am My Own KAREN LERNER Boots). For this fairy-tale set by another mid- PRESIDENT EMERITUS twentieth century composer, we will again Wife), and will feature feature bunraku puppetry, employ puppets –this time under the direction designed and executed by London’s renowned Blind Summit Theatre Company. Blind Summit is TED TRUSSELL PORTER of Moisés Kaufman. Undoubtedly the same PRESIDENT magic will ensue. best known to New York City audiences for their Both the Respighi and the Montsalvatge work in the Metropolitan Opera’s recent produc- tion of Madama Butterfly. The production’s sets DOMNA C. STANTON are typical for us: Gotham Chamber Opera will be designed by Andromache Chalfant, with VICE PRESIDENT specializes in ambitious productions of costumes by Clint Ramos. often un-heralded repertory. Witness our DONALD N. GELLERT recent presentation of Haydn’s Il mondo Born in Girona, Spain, Xavier Montsalvatge SECRETARY & TREASURER della luna (The World on the Moon) at the (1912-2002) is one of the most renowned Hayden Planetarium under the direction of ROBERT BAREUTHER Diane Paulus: here too, Gotham challenged BEATRICE BROADWATER all preconceptions of what, where, and how opera can be performed. The result was BROOKE HAYWARD DUCHIN pure magic. MICHELLE EDELMAN Set Model by Andromache Chalfant None of these productions would be possible ANDREA K. FALLEK without your loyal and generous support. Gotham PAUL L. KING truly is a puppet animated by your helpful hidden hands. With this newsletter we want LOUIS MIANO to keep you posted on the company’s plans JOHN L. MOORE I I I – and to inspire you to continue to “pull the strings”. WILLIAM OLIVER CHRISTIE ULRICH Thank you for your support! ROBERT TURNER Ted Trussell Porter composers of Spain’s so-called “lost gener- Gotham Chamber Opera, we would be most ation,” existing between the composers of grateful for your support now. the Republic and the current generation of You can make a contribution on our website Spanish composers. Of his three operas, El at http://www.gothamchamberopera.com/ gato con botas (1946), Una voce in off (1962) support.html or by using the mail-in form on the and Babel 46 (1967), El gato con botas is the back of this newsletter. We look forward to most famous, based on the familiar Perrault seeing you at El gato con botas in October! fairy tale. The opening night gala performance and Sincerely, reception for El gato con botas will take place on October 1 at 7:00 pm. As in the past, the David Bennett performance will be immediately followed by a Executive Director festive reception at a nearby location. Tickets are $500 ($400 tax deductible), $1,000 ($850 NOTES FROM tax-deductible), and $2,500 ($2,200 tax-deduct- OUR ARTISTIC ible) and will be available in July on our website DIRECTOR or by calling 212-868-4460. In the summer of 2005, Gotham Chamber Additional performances are October 2, Opera presented Respighi’s La bella dormente 7, 8, and 9 at 7 pm; October 2 and 9 at 2 pm; nel bosco (Sleeping Beauty) at Lincoln Center and October 3 and 10 at 12 pm and 5 pm. Festival and Spoleto Prices range from $9–$25 for Members, and Festival USA. The $14–$38 for Non-Members. production was a great success with the general public NOTES FROM as well as with crit- THE EXECUTIVE ics due to its mag- DIRECTOR ical score and the As most of you know, we’ve just concluded magic of its pup- what was perhaps our most ambitious production, petry. I immediate- Haydn’s Il mondo della luna, which played to ly sought anoth- sold-out houses at the Hayden Planetarium er work that might and garnered immense critical acclaim. But provide the same what you may not know is that our budget has sense of wonderment to our audiences. But doubled in size since 2005. Yet we’ve been such a work was not so easy to locate. able to balance the budget, even in the midst Eventually I remembered that, many years of the current economic difficulties, through ago, I had played the accompaniment to some the tremendous support of our loyal fans like piquant songs entitled Cinco canciónes negras you. Because of your generosity, we approach by the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge. our tenth anniversary in 2011—2012 in strong Somewhere in my memory bank I recalled financial and artistic health. that Montsalvatge had also written a fairy With that good news in mind, we’re happy tale opera of some sort. After a bit of research I to report that this year we return to a two-pro- u n earthed El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), duction season. From October 1—October 10, and it proved to be a real find. The extrovert score Photo by Stephanie Berger we will bring you the United States premiere exudes joy at every turn. Like the Respighi, El of Montsalvatge’s delightful opera El gato con gato con botas features a simple, shining surface El gato – Puppetry Sketches © Blind Summit Theatre botas (Puss in Boots). Presented at the beautiful that belies great musical complexity, resulting 500-seat New Victory Theater, our production will in an opera that can please children, sophis- alternate performances in Spanish and English, ticated musicians, and everyone in between. and at a running time of 70 minutes, it is guar- To elicit and enhance those qualities, I turned anteed be a treat for audiences of all ages. to the acclaimed director Moisés Kaufman (33 Variations and I Am My Own Wife on Broadway) In February, we will bring you our second and the internationally renowned Blind Summit production, the United States professional stage Puppet Theater (the Met’s Madama Buttefly). premiere of Cavalli’s recently discovered Together, they are creating what I feel will be baroque masterpiece Eligabalo. We will have another (sometimes literally) magical evening much information about this exciting production of opera. and next seasons’ tenth anniversary celebration to share with you in our fall newsletter. I am particularly pleased to offer El gato con botas on the heels of Haydn’s Il mon- For those of you who have recently supported our do della luna, which we presented in January work with a donation, we offer our sincere thanks. at the Hayden Planetarium of the American If you haven’t recently made a contribution to 2 Museum of Natural History. That production, with its celestial light show and la- he was eight. dance, he established himself as one of his ser technology, represented a level of His Tectonic Theater Project, established country’s outstanding young composers, modern stagecraft that would be hard in 1991, is dedicated to exploring the unique with more than twenty ballets to his credit. to top. With El gato con botas we don’t language and forms of theater as they differ In 1942 he began a second career as a mu- try; in fact, we are aiming in the oppo- from film or television, and he is eager to sic critic and, twenty years later, a third as site direction. Puppetry is a low-tech bring the innovative, experimental approach a teacher at the Conservatory. In all of these art form that derives its power from the developed by that company to the world of pursuits Montsalvatge was influential in encour- simplest means, and much of our plea- opera and, in particular, to Montsalvatge’s aging Catalan music to move away from its sure derives from watching beautiful charming version of a classic fable. He is Germanic traditions and to absorb the hand-made objects manipulated by real especially pleased to be collaborating with innovations of Stravinsky and the composers people. Classical music is also a cel- Gotham Chamber Opera and a third company comprising France’s Les Six. His delight in ebration of the low-tech, featuring much also noted for its adventurous offerings, Blind the world of children and the folk music of the same ingredients: hand-made objects Summit Theater, renowned for its puppetry, who his native Catalonia can perhaps best be en- manipulated by real people. And sing- contributed significantly to the success of the joyed in his opera El gato con botas, which ing is perhaps the lowest-tech of all, in- Metropolitan Opera’s recent new production of received its premiere in 1948 in Barcelona’s volving nothing man-made whatsoever.