Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Mad Scenes and Exit Arias: The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America

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

Waleson, Heidi

Paperback

General DramaTheater HistoryOpera

Publisher Price: $21.99

ISBN10: 1250230721
ISBN13: 9781250230720
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: Oct 1 2019
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.70
Height: 0.80 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.90
Language: English

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.

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