It is a rare arts journalist who can make reporting on the fiscal infrastructure of an opera company as interesting as the backstage dramas of directors, composers, conductors, musicians, designers and, of course, opera singers, but Wall Street Journal opera critic Heidi Waleson does just that ... Waleson’s reporting of the tumultuous history of NYCO is arts journalism at its best. And it should be a read as a cautionary manual of how to run, and not run, a performing arts organization.
Waleson writes with authority on the performing arts scene and what can go wrong in the management of arts institutions ... 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.
A carefully crafted and impeccably researched narrative with nearly as much drama as an opera plot ... Required reading for opera fans and anyone concerned with the state of the arts in the U.S.
Gripping ... 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.
[Waleson] 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.
