I was thrilled to be part of a small group in the Hockney evening of 20th Century French short works. We were all (Choristers) out-fitted with a sort of coverall – all in green, masked, and with pointed dunce hats. Very comfortable and not too hot to be on stage in them. In some books, the one part, in “Les Mamelles de Tirésias,” had a line of solo singers, in 20’s clothes, of choristers. Showing the use of other colors. Imagine the surprise from all the participants, dancers, choristers, soloists, supernumeraries, and the end of the run of performances when Mr. Hockney presented each of us a lithograph of “A Souvenir for a Triple Bill” he had prepared. He lettered in each of our names on the child’s play blocks in the Litho.
In 1981, when David Hockney arrived at the Metropolitan Opera to prepare the production of a Stravinsky triple bill, he was already well known and admired in the opera world for the works he had produced in Europe. All notable successes. His fame since then, in many artistic fields, has grown steadily until today that is, universal acclaim, a pre-eminence shadowing the others by the sheer volume of work, the inventions of ideas, etc. While at the Met, he could be seen anywhere and everywhere in the house, always in a pastel blazer, wearing a round Eton School boy beanie on his head. I personally assumed that the propeller to the cap was surely in one of the blazer’s pockets.
On a side note, while on a visit to Chuck Bonheur’s office upstairs in the production preparation part of the backstage area of the “house” one day, I saw a short pile of posters for the production and asked if Hockney would autograph a poster for me. It was agreed that at the Met Gift Shop I could buy one and bring it up to be put in this pile. When I got called that it was ready to be picked up, I brought along an Easter basket full of chocolate lollipops for Mr. Hockney, that I had assembled as a small token of thanks for the autograph with something to go with the obvious playfulness of his character and artistic style.
—Elyssa A. Lindner