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(See Vultures exclusive excerpt from her bookhere.)
Justin Davidson: You describe City Opera as a company that staggered from crisis to crisis.
But you and I both attended many performances there along the way, and some of them were wonderful.
Did it seem to already then that it was always on the precipice?
Heidi Waleson:No,I didnt know.
There was this positive attitude that ultimately became a factor in its demise.
Do you think the optimism that had been the companys strength eventually turned into delusion?Yes, absolutely.
The company gave young American singers great parts and New York exposure, but didnt pay them much.
Did that affect its ability to keep going?Eventually, yes.
When the company started, young singers had nowhere else in the country to go.
The whole regional opera system hadnt been developed yet.
For a while in the 1970s, Beverly Sills was City Operas biggest draw.
But nobody after Sills could really pull in an audience.
So did you conclude that City Operas death was inevitable?
Younger people were coming in a thrill-seeking audience, interested in unusual works but not enough of them.
Which brings us to the financial problem.
Ticket sales were flat and costs were going up because of inflexible labor contracts.
These trends affect companies everywhere.
Now if you are lucky the ticket portion is barely 30 percent.
So you have to raisea lotof money.
When they moved to Lincoln Center, they expanded dramatically.
They doubled the number of performances and grew into a big repertory company.
In the end, New York couldnt sustain two of those.
Hiring [the impresario Gerard] Mortier [to initiate the company] was the same thing.
Everybody knew what City Opera was in the early years.
As time went on that sense of identity really dissipated.Thats definitely true.
Were getting to the last act.
He was a totally inappropriate choice.
Baker promised him a ridiculous budget and never raised the money.
There were phenomenal levels of denial and arrogance.
And when the budget didnt materialize, he backed out.
When the company came back a year later, people said,Actually, we didnt miss you.
This is why people dont take vacations.Exactly.
From that point on, was the end foregone?Maybe not.
She understood how opera houses worked.
Instead they went with George Steel, who was totally unequipped.
He displayed the same kind of arrogance that Susan Baker did.
you better get everybody to believe in you, and he did the opposite he alienated everyone.
We critics cut the company a lot of slack.
But they kept letting us down.
Instead they didSeance on a Wet Afternoon.Oh my god, the worst!
AndPrima Donna,the Rufus Wainwright thing?H.W.:Yes.
Well, that was … [repulsed grimace].
There were maybe nine of us.They did eight performances!
And once they left the State Theater they didnt do anything good.
Where all the money goes!
There are some voices missing from the book.
And some people, including Susan Baker and George Steel, refused to talk to you.
Did they explain why?Nope.
I assume that they felt there was no way that they could justify what they had done.
