Theater News

New York City Opera Commissions Brokeback Mountain Opera

New York City Opera has announced its plans to commission an opera based on Annie Proulx’s gay love story Brokeback Mountain from composer Charles Wuprinen, to be presented in 2013, according to published reports.

The company, which will be run by controversial French director Gerald Mortier, has also announced plans for upcoming productions of Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress, Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Janacek’s Makropulos Case, and Messaien’s St. François d’Assise, as well as importing the English National Opera’s acclaimed staging of Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice.

As previously reported, the company will mount two unstaged performances of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, starring Lauren Flanigan and Teddy Tahu Rhodes, at Carnegie Hall on January 15 and 16 as part of its 2008-2009 season, when it will not have use of the New York State Theatre. NYCO’s other programming for this season will include a concert of 20th-century opera music to be performed in each of the five boroughs, panel discussions, film screenings, and its Vox showcase of new American operas.