By ANTHONY TOMMASINI [NY Times, 21 April 2008]

PARIS — Gerard Mortier, the brilliant Belgian-born director of major European music festivals and opera houses, is poised to shake up the cultural scene in New York when he takes charge of the New York City Opera in 2009. A tireless champion of contemporary works and a provocative impresario with a penchant for radical productions that have alternately thrilled and scandalized audiences, Mr. Mortier has said that he is eager to take the helm of the “people’s opera,” as the City Opera has long been called.