After writing my initial article at the beginning of January 2021 regarding the conflict at the Met, I found that a lot of readers had little understanding of what was actually going on. How come the Met workers have been deprived of their sources of livelihood for months, and then, why didn’t they want to accept General Manager Peter Gelb’s {…}
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra will finally receive a paycheck for the first time since April 2020. On Tuesday, March 16, the musicians of the Met Orchestra voted to accept a deal that will provide them with paychecks for the first time in nearly a year in exchange for returning to the bargaining table. The musicians agreed to $1,543 a week {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its next two weeks of streams, which will be dedicated to two themes. The first week will be dedicated to Myths and Legends and the second will be dedicated to Love Triangles. Here is a breakdown. Week 54 – Myths and Legends Monday, March 22 – Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice Starring Danielle de Niese, Heidi {…}
The Metropolitan Opera won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. The company won for its recording of “Porgy and Bess” which was conducted by David Robertson and starred Angel Blue and Eric Owens. The cast also included Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, Alfred Walker, Golda Schultz, Denyce Graves, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Sarah Brailey and {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced the 53rd straight week of nightly streams, which will feature a program dedicated to viewers’ choice winners. Here is a round-up of the operas that audiences will be able to stream throughout the week. Monday, March 15 – Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann Starring Anna Netrebko, Kathleen Kim, Ekaterina Gubanova, Kate Lindsey, Joseph Calleja, and Alan Held, conducted {…}
WQXR and the Metropolitan Opera have announced the third season of their opera podcast Aria Code. The podcast, which is hosted by MacArthur Fellow and Grammy Award–winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, brings to life the human experience at the heart of opera through storytelling, interviews, and performances from the Metropolitan Opera’s treasured archives. The new season will launch on March 10, {…}
PBS has announced that it will be broadcasting the Met Opera’s “Met Stars Live in Concert series” throughout 2021. All performances will be presented on PBS (check local listings for more details). Kicking off the year-long series will be Renée Fleming’s concert from Washington D.C., in which she performed music by Puccini, Massenet, Korngold, and Handel, among others. Broadcast Date: {…}
I’m going to kick off this week’s edition of the top 10 operas to stream by saying that it is probably among the most varied from a repertory standpoint. You have your Verdi, Mozart, Strauss, and Wagner, of course. But then you also have music by African American composers, a baroque opera, a modern operatic classic, and even a recital {…}
The Vienna Philharmonic has released a statement regarding the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra’s current situation. In an open letter Daniel Froschauer, head of the Philhamonic said, “The world is watching. 30 percent of the members of the MET Orchestra can no longer sustain a living in New York City due to being faced with no salary from the Metropolitan Opera since {…}
Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The last few weeks were noisy on the battlefield between Gelb and the unions representing the rights of the Met Opera workers: Peter Gelb continued unveiling future plans for Metropolitan {…}
The English National Opera has announced a new Ring Cycle. The company announced that Richard Jones will direct the production and will be conducted by Martyn Brabbins. It was also confirmed that the Metropolitan Opera will coproduce the production. The production will mark the first time the ENO stages the tetralogy in 15 years. The ENO will present the complete {…}
