Metropolitan Opera
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A full house at the old Metropolitan Opera House, seen from the rear of the stage, at the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert by pianist Józef Hofmann, November 28, 1937. |
The
Metropolitan Opera Association of
New York City, founded in April 1880, is a major presenter of Grand Opera. The Metropolitan is America's largest classical music organization, and annually presents some 240 opera performances. The home of the company, the
Metropolitan Opera House is one of the premier opera stages in the world. The Met is one of the twelve resident organizations at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the
Academy of Music. The Academy represented the highest social circle in New York society, and the board of directors were loath to admit members of new wealthy families into their aeire. The initial group of subscribers included the Morgan, Roosevelt, Astor and Vanderbilt families. Their creation, The Metropolitan Opera, long outlasted the Academy.
Henry Abbey served as manager for the inaugural season.
Following Abbey's inaugural season, which had resulted in very large deficits, operas were given by a "pick-up" ensemble of relatively inexpensive German singers (which nevertheless included some of the most celebrated singers in Germany) who performed an international repertory, albeit in German.
This anomalous situation terminated at the time of the Great Fire, following which the
Golden Age of Opera arrived at the Metropolitan under the celebrated management of
Maurice Grau 1892-
1903. The greatest (and most highly paid) operatic artists in the world then graced the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, notably the brothers
Jean and
Edouard de Reszke,
Lilli Lehmann,
Lillian Nordica,
Nellie Melba,
Milka Ternina Emma Eames,
Sofia Scalchi,
Eugenia Mantelli,
Jean Lassalle,
Mario Ancona,
Victor Maurel,
Antonio Scotti and
Pol Plançon.
From 1898 to 1985, the Metropolitan Opera went on a six-week tour following its season in New York. These were cancelled because of financial losses.
The administration of
Hans Conried in
1903-
1908, which saw the arrival of
Enrico Caruso, unquestionably the most celebrated singer who ever appeared at the Old Metropolitan, was followed by the 25-year reign, 1908-
1935 of the magisterial
Giulio Gatti-Casazza, whose model planning, authoritative organizational skills and brilliant casts raised the level of Metropolitan opera to a prolonged and unforgettable Silver Age. Again, the greatest singers and conductors appeared at the
Met"too many, in fact, to list here.
The noted Canadian operatic tenor,
Edward Johnson, was general manager between 1935 and
1950.
Zinka Milanov,
Jussi Bjoerling,
Richard Tucker and
Robert Merrill were first heard at the Met under his management.
Sir Thomas Beecham conducted.
A haughty and aristocratic Austrian-turned-Britisher, Sir
Rudolf Bing, was manager between 1950 and
1972, presiding over not only a great era of singing and theatrical staging, but also the company's move to a new home in Lincoln Center. Among many, many great artists, Sir Rudolf introduced
Maria Callas,
Renata Tebaldi,
Joan Sutherland,
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
Victoria de los Ángeles,
Montserrat Caballé,
Mario del Monaco,
Franco Corelli,
Carlo Bergonzi,
Nicolai Gedda,
Giorgio Tozzi and
Cesare Siepi to New York audiences, as well as conductors like
Pierre Monteux,
Fritz Reiner,
George Szell,
Karl Böhm and
Herbert von Karajan.
After a 16-year tenure, General Manager
Joseph Volpe retired on 31 July 2006.
The current General Manager is
Peter Gelb. Gelb began outlining his plans for the future in April 2006. These plans include more productions each year, ideas for shaving staging costs and attracting new audiences without deterring existing opera-lovers, whose average age, at the Met, is over 60. These issues are crucial for an organization which, to a far greater extent than any of the other great opera theatres of the world, is dependent on private financing.
Gelb is being watched to see if his enthusiasm, at
Sony Classical, where he previously worked, for "cross-over" productions (e.g.
Yo-Yo Ma playing country music) might spill over into the Met's schedules... He calls himself "an old-style producer" but saw little future for purely-classical recording when working in the...
classical record business, an attitude that caused some anger.
The Met radio broadcasts
The Met is also known worldwide for its live
radio broadcasts. The broadcast season, corresponding to the live production season, generally extends from December to the following May. The first broadcast was on
December 25, 1931, a production of
Engelbert Humperdinck's
Hansel und Gretel.
The famous Saturday afternoon broadcasts sponsored by
Texaco began on
December 7,
1940 with
Mozart and
Lorenzo da Ponte's
Le nozze di Figaro. After its merger with
Chevron, the combined company,
ChevronTexaco ended its sponsorship in April 2004 but the Met found financing to continue them through 2005. The 2005-2006 season was sponsored by Toll Brothers, manufacturers of luxury homes.
In the seven decades of broadcasting, only three announcers have been heard. The legendary
Milton Cross served from the inaugural broadcast until his death in 1975.
Deems Taylor was co-host during the early years, but he soon left. He was succeeded by
Peter Allen, who retired at the end of the 2003-2004 season. Twice during Cross and Allen's tenures
Lloyd Moss substituted.
Margaret Juntwait began her tenure as announcer in the 2004-2005 season.
The "Old Met"
The first Metropolitan Opera House opened on
October 22,
1883, with a performance of
Faust, was located between 39th and 40th Street on
Broadway.The original Metropolitan Opera House was designed by
J. Cleaveland Cady and was gutted by fire on
August 27,
1892. Following the fire the building was renovated extensively. As early as the turn of the century, the building was deemed too small for the company. Attempts to move the company to larger quarters, including a move to what is now
Rockefeller Center, were thwarted for financial reasons. Only in 1966 did the opera company move to its present location at Lincoln Center. The original building, having failed to obtain landmark status, was razed in 1967.
The Present Day Met
The Metropolitan Opera House, with approximately 4,000 seats, is located at Lincoln Center and was designed by architect
Wallace K. Harrison. The "New Met" opened on September 16, 1966, with the world premiere of
Samuel Barber's
Antony and Cleopatra. The building is clad in white
travertine and the east facade is graced with five similar arches. On display in the lobby are two murals created for the space by
Marc Chagall. The gold
Proscenium is 54' wide and 54' high. The main curtain is custom-woven gold damask and is the largest tab curtain in the world.
The Metropolitan Opera performs grand opera in rotating
repertory, each week presenting seven performances of 4 to 5 different productions. The highly mechanized stage and support space facilitates this presentation. There are 7 full stage elevators, (60' wide, with double decks) and three slipstages, the upstage one containing a 60' diameter revolve (turntable). There are 103 motorized battens (linesets) for overhead lifting and there are two 100' tall fully-enveloping cycloramas.
In 1999 and in 2001, the Metropolitan Opera House hosted the
MTV Video Music Awards while
Radio City Music Hall was being renovated.
*
James Levine (1973–)
(Principal Conductor; Musical Director from 1975 on)*
Valery Gergiev (1997-)
(Principal Guest Conductor)
*Rafael Kubelík (1973) (Principal Conductor)
*Erich Leinsdorf (1956–1962) (Musical Consultant)
*Fritz Reiner (1949–1953) (Principal Conductor)
*Fritz Busch (1945–1949)
*George Szell (1942–1946)
*Erich Leinsdorf (1939–1942) (head of German repertory)
*Artur Bodanzky (1915–1939) (head of German repertory)
*Arturo Toscanini (1908–1915) (Principal Conductor)
*Gustav Mahler (1908–1910) (Principal Conductor)''
*
Walter Damrosch (1884–1891)
*
Anton Seidl (1884–1897)
*
Metropolitan Opera Ballet*
MTV Video Music Awards*
The Metropolitan Opera*
History of Metropolitan Opera*
Metropolitan Opera Broadcast Information*
Metropolitan Opera Broadcast via streaming audio*
MetOpera Database* Full text of
Chapters of Opera by
Henry Edward Krehbiel from
Project Gutenberg*
Guide to events at Metropolitan Opera House
