Baltimore Opera

The news that came late last week from the Baltimore Opera Company wasn't unexpected. Ever since the organization sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, everyone knew that the next shoe could drop with the thud of Chapter 7 liquidation. Still, when it fell, somehow it seemed impossible. After nearly six decades (more if you count the precursor organization), the city's grand opera company is dead, waiting for its assets to be auctioned so that creditors can be paid a portion of what they are owed.

"I know I'm not a perfect singer," says Robert Cantrell. "Who wants a perfect singer? All the great ones had their flaws." The Georgia-born bass-baritone gives a little laugh as he says that, the laugh of someone who doesn't take himself too seriously. But Cantrell does take his art very seriously, as audiences will be reminded Sunday when the Baltimore resident will be a soloist in the Handel Choir of Baltimore's performance of the exquisite Requiem by Maurice Durufle. For the better part of two decades, Cantrell, 44, has been a frequent and much-admired contributor to the region's musical life.

In an effort to avoid debt and to shore up its finances, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra has canceled its last two concerts of the season and asked its musicians to donate their services for a Jan. 25 concert. The canceled concerts, of the orchestra's 26th season, were scheduled in February and May. "We need to be build up our coffers again," Jeffrey Penza, BCO board president, said yesterday. "Our hope is that we will be able to come back next season in a much stronger position." Like other arts organizations, notably the Baltimore Opera Company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, the BCO experienced a decline in ticket sales and contributions when the national economy began its decline.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 80 on Jan. 15. Although the challenge of defeating discrimination and bigotry - and not just racial - remains formidable, the slain civil rights leader would have been astounded at the changes in the world, especially what's taking shape in Washington. So this year's observance of King's birthday cannot help but seem more important, and the State of Maryland's 23rd Annual Tribute Concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra cannot help but seem even more of a celebratory occasion.

In a generous act perfectly suited to the holiday season, four major arts organizations - the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Centerstage and the Hippodrome - will offer a gift of free tickets to patrons of the Baltimore Opera Company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 4 and canceled the remainder of its 2008-2009 season. Baltimore Opera is unable to provide refunds for tickets sold to the scrapped spring productions of Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

Opera house isn't part of bankruptcy The Lyric Opera House operations and general performance schedule are unaffected by the Chapter 11 filing of the Baltimore Opera Company ("A gift of music," editorial, Dec. 14). The Lyric serves as the opera's performance venue and has no other business relationship with the opera company. The Lyric also has no information about the Baltimore Opera Company's present activities and future plans. Opera patrons and other interested individuals must contact the opera company's offices for assistance.

The Baltimore Opera Company's petition for Chapter 11 protection, filed yesterday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Maryland, revealed $1.2 million owed to creditors holding the largest unsecured claims. Seventy other creditors were listed, without a dollar value. Heading the credit roster is Bank of America, owed $640,000; and $245,000 is owed to subsidiaries of the company that manages the Lyric Opera House, where the company's productions have been performed for decades.

After 58 years and more than 200 productions, the Baltimore Opera Company will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-law protection today amid dwindling ticket sales and contributions. The remaining two productions of the 2008-2009 season, Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess have been canceled. Ticket-holders will not receive refunds. Singers engaged for next season are being released from their contracts, but the company plans to continue fundraising in an effort to resume productions in the future.