US News

BITTER ‘SUITE’ BATTLE

He’s got a score to settle.

An award-winning composer gave the Brooklyn Philharmonic more than $70,000 to perform his magnum opus, only to watch in agony as the cash-strapped orchestra “butchered” the piece to avoid paying musicians overtime, a new lawsuit alleges.

Juilliard-trained Nathan Currier should have been on top of the world during the April 21, 2004, premiere of “Gaian Variations” at Lincoln Center, but found himself in shock when the performance simply stopped, mid-piece, to keep the concert from running over three hours.

“It had a huge impact on me, both psychologically and in a very direct, nuts-and-bolts way,” said Currier. “I moved out of New York to write this thing, and assumed it would change my life when it got put on. But it was like the kiss of death to my career.”

Currier was sitting in his seat during the second of two intermissions in the two-hour-long piece when orchestra CEO Catherine Cahill summoned him to an emergency meeting.

She hurriedly explained to him that by union rule, both intermissions had to count as 20 minutes — no matter how long they actually were — and that as a result the massive piece, for orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists, was in danger of incurring overtime.

The surprise warning came after orchestra officials had repeatedly reassured the composer that they had the labor situation under control, according to the suit.

A flabbergasted Currier quickly took out his musical scalpel and reluctantly sliced up the piece so that at least it would still end with, well, the end.

But worse was in store. At about 10:45, orchestra management apparently decided upon a simpler solution.

“Suddenly a hand stuck out from the left side, from offstage, and the conductor just stopped and walked offstage,” Currier said. “It was completely bizarre because we had agreed on a different solution.”

He said he still doesn’t know why the cuts he’d made weren’t used.

The piece was savaged by the Times — a worst-case scenario for a classical composer in New York.

The orchestra, which is so short of funds it recently canceled its final performance of the season, said it could not comment on the matter.

Currier, now a professor at the University of Virginia, said the suit wasn’t intended to destroy a valuable cultural institution.

“For me, I would drop the case in five seconds if they would just play it again,” he said.

alex.ginsberg@nypost.com