A ‘Voluptuous’ Esther

“I’ve been making a sacred list of operas I love and want to do,” says City Opera’s Steel, “and ‘Esther’ was always on it.” Renee Perez

“I’ve been making a sacred list of operas I love and want to do,” says City Opera’s Steel, “and ‘Esther’ was always on it.” Renee Perez

by George Robinson
Special To The Jewish Week

The marketplace has no memory. If the only measure of artistic worth was box-office clout, Western civilization would be in trouble. It’s a thought that occurs when you examine the new season at the New York City Opera, the company’s first with George Steel at the helm. What becomes instantly clear is that, although his programming at the Miller Theater, his previous domain, was edgy and innovative, Steel was also astute and thoughtful in his choice of musical Old Masters.

To put it another way, George Steel has a memory and, in his new job, the ability to share it.
Consider one of the key choices Steel has made, the revival of Hugo Weisgall’s opera “Esther,” which opens on Nov. 7. “My God, what a masterpiece,” Steel says in an interview with The Jewish Week. “He wrote 10 operas but his magnum opus was ‘Esther.’”

Weisgall is all but forgotten today, yet the NYCO premiered three of his 10 operas between 1959’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and the 1993 debut of “Esther.” He was a descendant of a long line of cantors, chaired the Cantor Institute at Jewish Theological Seminary and was the author of countless liturgical pieces for the synagogue, as well as a substantial body of orchestral music.

“Esther,” which retells the biblical story of the Jewish woman who became queen and saved her people from destruction, was originally commissioned for the San Francisco Opera in the mid-1980s. However, after a series of shakeups at this company, it was orphaned. Eventually, the NYCO would produce it as a co-commission with the West Coast troupe, and the opera had its world premiere in 1993 as part of the City Opera’s festival of new pieces. At the time, Steel says, it was the least heralded of the several premieres on the schedule.

“It was the ugly sister,” he recalls, “But it was the runaway hit of the festival. I’ve been making a sacred list of operas I love and want to do, and ‘Esther’ was always on it.”

So when he became director of the New York City Opera, like a fan who suddenly becomes manager of the New York Yankees, Steel got his wish. He had always planned to include a 20th-century American opera in the opening of his first season and choosing which one to stage was probably the easiest decision he has had since moving downtown to Lincoln Center.

“Weisgall understood how to make dramatic music, and every note coveys the drama he intends,” Steel says.

The rave reviews the piece garnered frequently invoked the ghost of Alban Berg and atonality, but Steel understandably prefers to emphasize the lyricism of Weisgall’s music.

“He had enormous gifts as a composer, Steel says. “He was familiar with serial techniques, but it’s not a serial opera. It was considered ‘modern’ in 1993, but what was modern then may not be scary [to an audience] today. Every chord you hear is delicious; it’s like a series of voluptuous Bill Evans chords.”
Evans is a jazz pianist whose playing and writing is virtually synonymous with a thoughtful romanticism. It is an analogy that pleases Steel.

“It’s somewhere between Berg’s more lyrical side and Bill Evans,” he says. “Weisgall was innately sensitive to which notes to use and why. And the pacing of the opera is so wonderful. You think, ‘biblical epic opera — bring on Charlton Heston,’ but it’s not like that at all. It moves swiftly and it deals with a lot of heavy issues, but it is also intensely personal. You get a real sense of these people as people.”
Although he is not Jewish, Steel programmed a great deal of exciting Jewish music at the Miller Theater, and the presence of the Weisgall on the calendar of his first season at City Opera suggests that he will continue to do so.

“Anyone who is programming great works of the 20th century will be de facto programming plenty of Jewish music,” he says. “And that’s particularly true of the United States and New York City in particular.”
He reels off the usual names — Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Berlin, central figures in modern American music. And now he is going to be able to program some of them for one of the best venues and companies in America.

“I’ve been busy finding a repertoire I’m absolutely crazy about,” he says with a laugh. “Alberto Ginastera, Schoenberg, Dukas, Dallapicolla.”

He even has a surprise up his sleeve for those who are pining for his days uptown — an opera by John Zorn. “Yes, John has an opera, and it’s fabulous,” he says. “It has no text, but it’s inspired by drawings by Artaud. It’s a wonderful piece, gorgeous.”

Of course, Steel must program all these revelatory modern works in a changing economic climate that is having a powerful and unhappy impact on nonprofit arts organizations.

“The New York City Opera has always been interested in drawing everyone into the opera, not just the wealthy or opera insiders,” he says. “Exciting repertoire is the keystone to doing that.”
It seems to be working.

“We sold out the four scheduled performances of ‘Esther,’ and we’ve added another one to the schedule,” Steel notes.

He believes that the economic contraction should be thought of as an opportunity as well as a challenge.
“I think that with the recession, cultural institutions large and small have to answer questions every day about their mission,” Steel says. “Those questions are in high relief for the New York City Opera now. Now is the time to look at our mission and program with courage. The so-called general public who know the common [operatic] repertoire is shrinking, and that repertoire is shrinking. I take that as good news. A programmer can put on what he or she deeply believes in.”

Which is where George Steel comes in. “It’s my very happy job to look at all these glorious pieces and make some of them come to the stage,” he concludes, memorably.

“Esther” will open at the New York City Opera on Nov. 7 for five performances at the New York State Theatre, Lincoln Center. For information, go to www.nycopera.com or call (212) 870-5570.

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