Mortier has big plans for NY City Opera. He “thinks that New Yorkers, since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, are more aware of the fragility of life and cognizant of what art can contribute to a fulfilled existence. ‘We live in a world where if you show emotion, you’re a loser. In theater, we show that losers have a right to live, too. All the heroes of Verdi are losers’.”