Metropolitan Opera

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 Company

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.

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.

The Company is currently under the direction of Joseph Volpe, who ends his 16-year tenure in August 2006. He will be replaced, as general manager, by Peter Gelb, who has begun outlining his plans for the future, including 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 years of age. 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.

Opera houses

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.

Notable Conductors

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)

External links

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