Photo: Juilian Hargreaves Since the end of February 2022, in statements made by several artist or theaters, we have kept reading something along the lines of: “Art must be separated from politics.” It is an encouraging and probably fair point, but can it be, especially, when we talk about opera? Today, when we enjoy a performance worth hundreds of thousands {…}
Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb is taking a new stance on Russian artists performing at the Met Opera, noting he will allow them privacy. In an interview with the Guardian, Gelb said, “Most Russian artists, including other singers who perform at the Met, have not taken any public political position. Their private positions are theirs to keep private. I {…}
Following Anna Netrebko’s statement in which she distanced herself from Vladimir Putin, Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb has commented that he is not ready to bring the soprano back. Peter Gelb told the New York Times, “We’re not prepared to change our position. If Anna demonstrates that she has truly and completely disassociated herself from Putin over the long term, {…}
For over a month, there have been no big headlines about the Metropolitan Opera in news. Sure, there are cast changes and the likes, but that’s kind of business as usual per the Met. And it creates a sense of progress toward the opening of the new season. But this apparent progress or achievement, which during the summer was routinely {…}
(Photo: Adi Goldstein) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most essential topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. Another week passed, and the negotiations that the Met and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees started with a supposed June 14 deadline to start the Met {…}
(Photo: Alexander Thompson) Sonya Yoncheva has always played by her own rules. She’s never allowed anyone to box her in and has never followed a specific route. She has championed rarely performed like “Il Pirata,” “Siberia,” and “Medea” among others throughout her career, experimenting with all kinds of directors and often arriving at some truly immersive and original interpretations of {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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. “Real music is right in the heart of what we struggle. Our task is not to be a leisure activity, but to go the places where no political {…}
The standoff between the Metropolitan Opera and its Met Opera orchestra has escalated into a war of words with a recent set of leaked emails revealing the open hostility between the two parties. Slipped Disc recently leaked an email sent by the Met Opera general manager Peter Gelb to the members of the orchestra and a corresponding response from the {…}
With the Metropolitan Opera’s Live concert series continuing this week, General Manager Peter Gelb recently spoke with several artists separately via Zoom and revealed numerous future productions and engagements for many of the singers. In his conversation with Sonya Yoncheva, Gelb noted that the diva will perform a new production of “Fedora,” as well as revivals of “Madama Butterfly,” “The {…}