New York's Other Opera: The New York City Opera

Perpetually in the shadow of the Metropolitan Opera,the New York City Opera was founded in 1943. The company's early home was at the City Center on West 55th Street in Manhattan. The New York City Opera has from the beginning been a pioneer in its choice of productions, resurrecting neglected gems from the repertoire, such as Verdi's 'MacBeth' and Donizetti's 'Anna Bolena'. The new York City Opera moved to its present home, The New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, in 1966. The Opera shares this space with the New York City Ballet.

The New York City Opera has always championed American singers and American operas. Beverly Sills, a renowned American soprano, begin her ascent to opera stardom here. She later went on to become the company's General Director, retiring in 1989. The New York City Opera has premiered the works of American composers, such as Leonard Bernstein's 'Candide', Virgil Thomson's 'The Mother of Us All', and Mark Adamo's 'Little Women'.

In recent years, the New York City Opera has turned its attention to early opera works, and to the baroque. The company's productions of Monteverdi's 'Orfeo' and Handel's 'Giulio Cesare' were landmarks in opera history. Some have claimed that the company was primarily responsible for the resurgence of interest in the baroque form, and also the new popularity for the male countertenor. Recent productions of note have been the wildly creative stagings of Rameau's 'Platee' and Purcell's 'King Arthur'. The collaboration of Mark Morris, his dance troupe, and costume designer Isaac Mizrahi has been especially innovative.