Coordenadas : 40 ° 46′22 ″ N 73 ° 59′3 ″ W / 40,77278 ° N 73,98417 ° W
El Metropolitan Opera (comúnmente conocido como el Met [Nota 1] ) es una compañía de ópera estadounidense con sede en la ciudad de Nueva York , residente en el Metropolitan Opera House en el Lincoln Center . La compañía es operada por la Asociación Metropolitana de Ópera sin fines de lucro , con Peter Gelb como gerente general. A partir de 2018, el director musical actual de la compañía es Yannick Nézet-Séguin .
El Met fue fundado en 1883 como una alternativa a la ópera Academy of Music, previamente establecida , y debutó el mismo año en un nuevo edificio en 39th y Broadway (ahora conocido como el "Old Met"). [1] Se mudó a la nueva ubicación del Lincoln Center en 1966.
La Metropolitan Opera es la organización de música clásica más grande de América del Norte. Hasta 2019, presentó alrededor de 27 óperas diferentes cada año desde finales de septiembre hasta mayo. Las óperas se presentan en un horario de repertorio rotativo , con hasta siete representaciones de cuatro obras diferentes representadas cada semana. Las presentaciones se dan por la noche de lunes a sábado con una matinée el sábado. Varias óperas se presentan en nuevas producciones cada temporada. A veces, estos se toman prestados o se comparten con otras compañías de ópera. El resto de óperas del año se dan en renovaciones de producciones de temporadas anteriores. La temporada 2015-16 comprendió 227 representaciones de 25 óperas. [2]
Las óperas del repertorio del Met se componen de una amplia gama de obras, desde el barroco del siglo XVIII y el bel canto del siglo XIX hasta el minimalismo de finales del siglo XX y XXI. Estas óperas se presentan en producciones escenificadas que varían en estilo, desde aquellas con decoraciones tradicionales elaboradas hasta otras que presentan diseños conceptuales modernos.
La compañía de interpretación del Met está formada por una gran orquesta sinfónica, un coro, un coro de niños y muchos cantantes solistas de apoyo y principales. La compañía también emplea a numerosos bailarines, actores, músicos y otros artistas independientes durante toda la temporada. La lista de cantantes del Met incluye artistas internacionales y estadounidenses, algunas de cuyas carreras se han desarrollado a través de los programas de artistas jóvenes del Met. Si bien muchos cantantes aparecen periódicamente como invitados de la compañía, otros mantienen una estrecha asociación con el Met, apareciendo muchas veces cada temporada hasta que se jubilan.
Historia
Orígenes
La Metropolitan Opera Company se fundó en 1883 como una alternativa a la antigua ópera establecida de la Academia de Música de Nueva York . [3] [1] Los suscriptores al número limitado de palcos privados de la Academia representaban el estrato más alto de la sociedad de Nueva York. En 1880, estas familias de " dinero viejo " se resistían a admitir a los nuevos industriales ricos de Nueva York en su círculo social establecido desde hacía mucho tiempo . Frustrados por ser excluidos, los suscriptores fundadores de Metropolitan Opera decidieron construir un nuevo teatro de ópera que eclipsaría a la antigua Academia en todos los sentidos. [4] [5] Un grupo de 22 hombres se reunió en el restaurante de Delmonico el 28 de abril de 1880. Ellos eligieron oficiales y establecieron suscripciones para la propiedad de la nueva compañía. [6] El nuevo teatro, construido en 39th y Broadway , incluiría tres niveles de palcos privados en los que los vástagos de las nuevas y poderosas familias industriales de Nueva York podrían exhibir su riqueza y establecer su prominencia social. Los primeros suscriptores del Met incluyeron miembros de las familias Morgan , Roosevelt y Vanderbilt , todos los cuales habían sido excluidos de la Academia. La nueva Metropolitan Opera House se inauguró el 22 de octubre de 1883, [7] y fue un éxito inmediato, tanto social como artísticamente. La temporada de ópera de la Academia de Música terminó solo tres años después de la inauguración del Met.
Temporada inaugural
En sus primeras décadas, el Met no produjo las representaciones de ópera en sí mismo, pero contrató a destacados gerentes / empresarios para organizar una temporada de ópera en el nuevo Metropolitan Opera House . Henry Abbey se desempeñó como gerente de la temporada inaugural, 1883-1884, que se abrió con la actuación de Charles Gounod 's Faust protagonizada por la soprano sueca brillante Christina Nilsson . [8] La compañía de Abbey esa primera temporada contó con un conjunto de artistas liderado por las sopranos Nilsson y Marcella Sembrich ; la mezzosoprano Sofia Scalchi ; los tenores Italo Campanini y Roberto Stagno ; el barítono Giuseppe Del Puente ; y el bajo Franco Novara . Ofrecieron 150 representaciones de 20 óperas diferentes de Gounod, Meyerbeer, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart, Thomas, Bizet, Flotow y Ponchielli. Todas las actuaciones fueron cantadas en italiano y fueron dirigidas por el director musical Auguste Vianesi o Cleofonte Campanini (el hermano del tenor Italo).
La compañía actuó no solo en la nueva casa de la ópera de Manhattan, sino que también comenzó una larga tradición de giras por todo el país. En el invierno y la primavera de 1884, el Met presentó ópera en teatros de Brooklyn, Boston, Filadelfia (ver más abajo), Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington DC y Baltimore. De vuelta en Nueva York, la última noche de la temporada contó con una larga actuación de gala en beneficio del Sr. Abbey. El programa especial consistió no solo en varias escenas de ópera, sino que también ofreció a Marcella Sembrich tocando el violín y el piano, así como a los famosos actores de teatro Henry Irving y Ellen Terry en una escena de El mercader de Venecia de Shakespeare . La temporada inaugural de Abbey resultó en grandes déficits financieros. [3]
The Met en Filadelfia
La Metropolitan Opera comenzó una larga historia de presentaciones en Filadelfia durante su primera temporada, presentando todo su repertorio en la ciudad durante enero y abril de 1884. La primera presentación de la compañía en Filadelfia fue de Fausto (con Christina Nilsson) el 14 de enero de 1884, en el Teatro de la Ópera de Chestnut Street . [9] El Met continuó actuando anualmente en Filadelfia durante casi ochenta años, llevando a toda la compañía a la ciudad los martes por la noche seleccionados durante la temporada de ópera. Las presentaciones generalmente se llevaban a cabo en la Academia de Música de Filadelfia , y la compañía presentaba cerca de 900 presentaciones en la ciudad en 1961 cuando cesaron las visitas regulares del Met. [ cita requerida ]
El 26 de abril de 1910, el Met Filadelfia compró el teatro de la ópera de Oscar Hammerstein I . [10] La compañía cambió el nombre de la casa a Metropolitan Opera House y realizó todas sus actuaciones en Filadelfia allí hasta 1920, cuando la compañía vendió el teatro y reanudó su actuación en la Academia de Música. [ cita requerida ]
Durante los primeros años del Met, la compañía presentaba anualmente una docena o más de representaciones de ópera en Filadelfia a lo largo de la temporada. A lo largo de los años, el número de actuaciones se redujo gradualmente hasta que la última temporada de Filadelfia en 1961 consistió en solo cuatro óperas. [ cita requerida ] La actuación final de esa última temporada fue el 21 de marzo de 1961, con Birgit Nilsson y Franco Corelli en Turandot . Después de que terminaron las visitas del martes por la noche, el Met todavía regresó a Filadelfia en sus giras de primavera en 1967, 1968, 1978 y 1979. [ cita requerida ]
Temporadas alemanas
Para su segunda temporada, los directores del Met recurrieron a Leopold Damrosch como gerente general. [3] El venerado director de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Nueva York fue contratado para dirigir la compañía de ópera en un repertorio totalmente en alemán y servir como su director principal. [ cita requerida ] Bajo Damrosch, la compañía estaba formada por algunos de los cantantes más célebres de los teatros de ópera de lengua alemana de Europa. El nuevo Met alemán encontró un gran éxito popular y crítico en las obras de Wagner y otros compositores alemanes, así como en las óperas italianas y francesas cantadas en alemán. Damrosch murió solo unos meses después de su primera temporada en el Met. [ cita requerida ] Edmund Stanton reemplazó a Damrosch el año siguiente y se desempeñó como gerente general durante la temporada 1890-1891. Las seis temporadas alemanas del Met se destacaron especialmente por las actuaciones del célebre director Anton Seidl, cuyas interpretaciones de Wagner se destacaron por su intensidad casi mística. El director Walter Damrosch , hijo de Leopold, también inició una larga relación con el Met durante este período.
Cilindros Mapleson
De 1900 a 1904, Lionel Mapleson (1865-1937) realizó una serie de grabaciones de sonido en el Met. Mapleson, sobrino del empresario de ópera James Henry Mapleson , fue empleado por el Met como violinista y bibliotecario musical. [11] Usó una instalación de fonógrafo cilíndrico de Edison cerca del escenario para capturar grabaciones cortas de uno a cinco minutos de los solistas, el coro y la orquesta durante las actuaciones. Estos documentos acústicos únicos, conocidos como los Cilindros Mapleson , conservan una imagen de audio del Met temprano, y son las únicas grabaciones existentes conocidas de algunos artistas, incluido el tenor Jean de Reszke y la soprano dramática Milka Ternina. Las grabaciones se publicaron posteriormente en una serie de LP y, en 2002, se incluyeron en el Registro Nacional de Grabaciones . [12] [Nota 2] [13]
Gira anual de primavera
A partir de 1898, la compañía Metropolitan Opera de cantantes y músicos emprendió una gira de seis semanas por ciudades estadounidenses después de su temporada en Nueva York. Estas giras anuales de primavera llevaron a la compañía y sus estrellas a ciudades de los Estados Unidos, la mayoría de las cuales no tenían compañía de ópera propia. Las giras nacionales del Met continuaron hasta 1986. [14]
Administraciones
Abbey, Schoeffel y Grau
La ópera italiana regresó al Met en 1891 en una brillante temporada de estrellas organizada por el regreso de Henry E. Abbey, John B. Schoeffel [15] y Maurice Grau [16] como Abbey, Schoeffel y Grau . Después de perderse una temporada para reconstruir el teatro de la ópera tras un incendio en agosto de 1892 que destruyó la mayor parte del teatro, Abbey y Grau continuaron como coadministradores junto con John Schoeffel como socio comercial, iniciando la llamada "Edad de Oro de la Ópera". . La mayoría de los artistas operísticos más importantes del mundo aparecieron en el escenario del Metropolitan Opera House en repertorio italiano, alemán y francés. Entre ellos destacan los hermanos Jean y Édouard de Reszke , Lilli Lehmann , Emma Calvé , Lillian Nordica , Nellie Melba , Marcella Sembrich , Milka Ternina , Emma Eames , Sofia Scalchi , Ernestine Schumann-Heink , Francesco Tamagno , Francisco Vignas, Jean Lassalle, Mario Ancona , Victor Maurel , Antonio Scotti y Pol Plançon . Henry Abbey murió en 1896, [17] y Maurice Grau continuó como gerente único del Met de 1896 a 1903. [16]
A principios de la década de 1900 se produjo el desarrollo de distintas "alas" italianas, alemanas y más tarde francesas dentro de la lista de artistas del Met, incluidos coros alemanes e italianos separados. Esta división de las fuerzas de la compañía se desvaneció después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial cuando los artistas solistas pasaron menos tiempo comprometidos en una sola compañía.
Heinrich Conried
La administración de Heinrich Conried en 1903-08 se distinguió especialmente por la llegada del tenor napolitano Enrico Caruso , el cantante más célebre que jamás haya aparecido en el antiguo Metropolitan. También jugó un papel decisivo en la contratación del director Arturo Vigna .
Giulio Gatti-Casazza
A Conried le siguió Giulio Gatti-Casazza , quien ocupó un cargo de 27 años entre 1908 y 1935. Gatti-Casazza había sido atraído por el Met de un célebre cargo como director de la Ópera de La Scala de Milán . Su planificación modelo, sus habilidades organizativas autorizadas y sus elencos brillantes llevaron a Metropolitan Opera a una era prolongada de innovación artística y excelencia musical. Trajo consigo al fogoso y brillante director Arturo Toscanini , el director musical de sus temporadas en La Scala.
Muchos de los cantantes más destacados de la época aparecieron en el Met bajo el liderazgo de Gatti-Casazza, incluidas las sopranos Rosa Ponselle , Elisabeth Rethberg , Maria Jeritza , Emmy Destinn , Frances Alda , Frida Leider , Amelita Galli-Curci , Bernice de Pasquali y Lily. Pons ; los tenores Jacques Urlus , Giovanni Martinelli , Beniamino Gigli , Giacomo Lauri-Volpi y Lauritz Melchior ; los barítonos Titta Ruffo , Giuseppe De Luca , Pasquale Amato y Lawrence Tibbett ; y los bajos Friedrich Schorr , Feodor Chaliapin , Jose Mardones, Tancredi Pasero y Ezio Pinza, entre muchos otros.
Toscanini se desempeñó como director principal del Met (pero sin título oficial) de 1908 a 1915, liderando a la compañía en actuaciones de Verdi, Wagner y otros que establecieron estándares para la compañía en las próximas décadas. El compositor vienés Gustav Mahler también fue director del Met durante las dos primeras temporadas de Gatti-Casazza y, en años posteriores, los directores Tullio Serafin y Artur Bodanzky dirigieron la compañía en los repertorios italiano y alemán, respectivamente.
Tras la partida de Toscanini, Gatti-Casazza guió con éxito a la compañía a lo largo de los años de la Primera Guerra Mundial hacia otra década de estrenos, nuevas producciones y éxito popular en la década de 1920. Sin embargo, la década de 1930 trajo consigo nuevos desafíos financieros y organizativos para la empresa. En 1931, Otto Kahn , el destacado financiero, dimitió como director de la junta directiva del Met y presidente de la Metropolitan Opera Company. Había sido responsable de la contratación de Gatti-Casazza y había ocupado el cargo de presidente desde el comienzo del mandato de Gatti-Casazza como gerente. El nuevo presidente, el destacado abogado Paul Cravath , se había desempeñado como asesor legal de la junta. [18] Manteniendo a Gatti-Casazza como gerente, Cravath centró su atención en la gestión de los asuntos comerciales de la empresa. [19]
En 1926, como parte de la construcción del Rockefeller Center , se presentó un plan para trasladar la ópera del edificio de la calle 39 al nuevo Rockefeller Center . [20] El plan se abandonó en 1929 cuando se hizo evidente que no produciría ningún ahorro y porque el Met no tenía suficiente dinero para mudarse a un nuevo teatro de ópera. [21] Pronto se hizo evidente que el desplome de Wall Street de 1929 y la posterior depresión habían provocado un déficit peligrosamente grande en las cuentas de la empresa. Entre 1929 y 1931, las ventas de entradas se mantuvieron sólidas, pero los subsidios de los ricos partidarios del Met habían disminuido significativamente. [22]
Poco después de su nombramiento, Cravath obtuvo nuevos ingresos a través de un contrato con National Broadcasting Company para transmisiones de radio semanales de actuaciones del Met. [23] La primera transmisión nacional tuvo lugar el 25 de diciembre de 1931, cuando se transmitió Hansel y Gretel . [Nota 3] [24] Con el apoyo de Gatti, Cravath también obtuvo una reducción del diez por ciento en el salario de todos los empleados asalariados a partir de la temporada de ópera de 1931/32. Cravath también diseñó una reorganización de la sociedad de gestión mediante la cual se transformó de una corporación, en la que todos los participantes eran accionistas, a una asociación, cuyos miembros no necesitan tener un interés financiero en las operaciones. Aparte de este cambio, la nueva Asociación de Ópera Metropolitana era prácticamente idéntica a la antigua Compañía de Ópera Metropolitana. Se esperaba que la asociación pudiera ahorrar dinero al renegociar los contratos que había hecho la empresa. [25]
Durante este período no hubo cambios en la organización de la Metropolitan Real Estate Opera Company, propietaria del teatro de la ópera . Quedó en manos de las familias de la sociedad propietarias de sus acciones, pero los subsidios que la casa y sus dueños le habían dado a la empresa productora cayeron. En marzo de 1932, Cravath descubrió que los ingresos derivados de las transmisiones y los ahorros de los recortes salariales y la reorganización no eran suficientes para cubrir los déficits de la empresa. Los representantes del teatro de la ópera, la compañía productora y los artistas formaron un comité para la recaudación de fondos entre el público en general. Principalmente a través de las apelaciones hechas a las audiencias de radio durante las transmisiones semanales, el comité pudo obtener suficiente dinero para asegurar la continuación de la ópera durante la temporada 1933-1934. [26] Llamado el comité para Save Metropolitan Opera, el grupo estaba encabezado por la muy querida soprano principal, Lucrezia Bori . Bori no solo dirigió el comité, sino que también llevó a cabo personalmente gran parte de su trabajo y, en unos pocos meses, sus esfuerzos de recaudación de fondos produjeron los $ 300,000 que se necesitaban para la próxima temporada. [27]
Edward Johnson
En abril de 1935, Gatti dimitió después de 27 años como director general. Su sucesor inmediato, el ex bajo del Met Herbert Witherspoon , murió de un ataque al corazón apenas seis semanas después de su mandato. [28] [29] [30] Esto abrió el camino para que el tenor canadiense y ex artista del Met Edward Johnson fuera nombrado director general. Johnson sirvió en la compañía durante los siguientes 15 años, guiando al Met a través de los años restantes de la depresión y la era de la Segunda Guerra Mundial .
Las dificultades financieras de la empresa productora continuaron en los años inmediatamente posteriores a la desesperada temporada de 1933-1934. Para hacer frente a los déficits presupuestarios, continuó la recaudación de fondos y se redujo el número de actuaciones. Aún así, en noches determinadas, la brillante pareja de Wagner de la soprano noruega Kirsten Flagstad con el gran heldentenor Lauritz Melchior resultó irresistible para el público incluso en tiempos tan difíciles. Para expandir el apoyo del Met entre su audiencia de radio nacional, Eleanor Robson Belmont , ex actriz y esposa del industrial August Belmont , fue nombrada directora de una nueva organización, el Metropolitan Opera Guild, como sucesora de un club de mujeres que Belmont había establecido arriba. El Gremio apoyó a la compañía productora a través de suscripciones a su revista, Opera News , y a través de los llamamientos semanales de la Sra. Belmont en las transmisiones de radio del Met. [24] En 1940, la propiedad de la compañía escénica y el teatro de la ópera se transfirió a la Asociación Metropolitana de Ópera sin fines de lucro de la sociedad original de la compañía de familias de la sociedad de Nueva York.
Zinka Milanov , Jussi Björling y Alexander Kipnis fueron escuchados por primera vez en el Met bajo la dirección de Johnson. Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, cuando muchos artistas europeos no estaban disponibles, el Met reclutó cantantes estadounidenses como nunca antes. Eleanor Steber , Dorothy Kirsten , Helen Traubel (la sucesora de Flagstad como las heroínas de Wagner), Jan Peerce , Richard Tucker , Leonard Warren y Robert Merrill fueron algunos de los muchos artistas locales que se convirtieron en estrellas del Met en la década de 1940. Ettore Panizza , Sir Thomas Beecham , George Szell y Bruno Walter se encontraban entre los principales directores contratados durante el mandato de Johnson. Kurt Adler comenzó su largo mandato como maestro de coro y director de personal en 1943.
Rudolf Bing
El sucesor de Johnson en 1950 fue Rudolf Bing, nacido en Austria, quien recientemente había creado y se desempeñó como director del Festival de Edimburgo . Sirviendo desde 1950 hasta 1972, Bing se convirtió en uno de los líderes más influyentes y reformistas del Met. Bing modernizó la administración de la empresa, terminó [ ¿cómo? ] un arcaico [ ¿cómo? ] sistema de venta de entradas y puso fin a las actuaciones de la compañía los martes por la noche en Filadelfia. Presidió una era de canto fino y nuevas producciones brillantes, mientras guiaba el traslado de la compañía a un nuevo hogar en Lincoln Center. Si bien muchos cantantes destacados debutaron en el Met bajo la guía de Bing, los críticos de música se quejaron de la falta de una gran dirección durante su régimen, [ cita requerida ] a pesar de que directores tan eminentes como Fritz Stiedry , Dimitri Mitropoulos , Erich Leinsdorf , Fritz Reiner y Karl Böhm apareció con frecuencia en las décadas de 1950 y 1960.
Uno de los logros más importantes del mandato de Bing fue la apertura de la lista artística del Met para incluir cantantes de color. El histórico debut de Marian Anderson en 1955 fue seguido por la presentación de una talentosa generación de artistas afroamericanos liderada por Leontyne Price (quien inauguró la nueva casa en el Lincoln Center), Reri Grist , Grace Bumbry , Shirley Verrett , Martina Arroyo , George Shirley , Robert McFerrin y muchos otros. Otros cantantes célebres que debutaron en el Met durante el mandato de Bing incluyen: Roberta Peters , Victoria de los Ángeles , Renata Tebaldi , Maria Callas , quien tuvo una amarga pelea con Bing sobre el repertorio, [ cita requerida ] , Birgit Nilsson , Joan Sutherland , Régine Crespin , Mirella Freni , Renata Scotto , Montserrat Caballé , Elisabeth Schwarzkopf , Anna Moffo , James McCracken , Carlo Bergonzi , Franco Corelli , Alfredo Kraus , Plácido Domingo , Nicolai Gedda , Luciano Pavarotti , Jon Vickers , Tito Gobbi , Sherarerill Siepines y Cesá .
La producción de 1961 del Met de Turandot , con Leopold Stokowski como director, Birgit Nilsson en el papel principal y Franco Corelli como Calàf, [31] fue en mayo llamado el Met "Mayor éxito en 10 años". [32] Para la temporada 1962/1963, Renata Tebaldi , popular entre el público del Met, convenció a un reacio Bing para que organizara una nueva versión de Adriana Lecouvreur , una ópera que se presentó por última vez en el Met en 1907.
In 1963 Anthony Bliss, a prominent New York lawyer and president of the Metropolitan Opera Association (MOA), convinced the MOA to create the Metropolitan Opera National Company (MONC); a second touring company that would present operas nationally with young operatic talent.[33] Supported by President John F. Kennedy and funded largely by donations given by philanthropist and publisher Lila Acheson Wallace, the company presented two seasons of operas in 1965-1966 and 1966–1967 in which hundreds of performances were given in hundreds of cities throughout the United States.[33] Bing publicly supported the organization, but privately detested the idea and actively worked to dismantle the company which he ultimately achieved in a vote of the board in December 1966.[33] The MONC's directors were mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens and Michael Manuel, a long time stage manager and director at the Met.[33] Several well known opera singers performed with the MONC, including sopranos Clarice Carson, Maralin Niska, Mary Beth Peil, Francesca Roberto, and Marilyn Zschau; mezzo-sopranos Joy Davidson, Sylvia Friederich, Dorothy Krebill, and Huguette Tourangeau; tenors Enrico Di Giuseppe, Chris Lachona, Nicholas di Virgilio, and Harry Theyard; baritones Ron Bottcher, John Fiorito, Thomas Jamerson, Julian Patrick, and Vern Shinall; bass-baritones Andrij Dobriansky, Ronald Hedlund, and Arnold Voketaitis; and bass Paul Plishka.[33]
During Bing's tenure, the officers of the Met joined forces with the officers of the New York Philharmonic to build the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where the new Metropolitan Opera House building opened in 1966.[34]
The Met's first season at Lincoln Center featured nine new productions, including the world premiere of Marvin David Levy’s Mourning Becomes Electra.[35] However, the company would not premiere any new operas for decades afterwards, until 1991's The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano. One critic described the period as "a quarter-century in which the notion of commissioned work reminded Met administrators of the emblematic failure of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra and the lukewarm reception of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra."[36]
Gentele to Southern
Following Bing's retirement in 1972, the Met's management was overseen by a succession of executives and artists in shared authority. Bing's intended successor, the Swedish opera manager Göran Gentele, died in an auto accident before the start of his first season. Following Gentele's tragic loss came Schuyler Chapin, who served as general manager for three seasons. The greatest achievement of his tenure was the Met's first tour to Japan for three weeks in May–June 1975 which was the brainchild of impresario Kazuko Hillyer. The tour played a significant role in popularizing opera in Japan, and boasted an impressive line-up of artists in productions of La traviata, Carmen, and La bohème; including Marilyn Horne as Carmen, Joan Sutherland as Violetta, and tenors Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti alternating as Rodolfo.[37] Soprano Renata Tebaldi retired from the Met in 1973 as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, the same role she debuted there in 1955.[38]
From 1975 to 1981 the Met was guided by a triumvirate of directors: the General Manager (Anthony A. Bliss), Artistic Director (James Levine), and Director of Production (English stage director John Dexter). Bliss was followed by Bruce Crawford and Hugh Southern. Through this period the constant figure was James Levine. Engaged by Bing in 1971, Levine became Principal Conductor in 1973 and emerged as the Met's principal artistic leader through the last third of the 20th century.
During the 1983–84 season the Met celebrated its 100th anniversary with an opening night revival of Berlioz's mammoth opera Les Troyens, with soprano Jessye Norman making her Met debut in the roles of both Cassandra and Dido. An eight-hour Centennial Gala concert in two parts followed on October 22, 1983, broadcast on PBS. The gala featured all of the Met's current stars as well as appearances by 26 veteran stars of the Met's the past. Among the artists, Leonard Bernstein and Birgit Nilsson gave their last performances with the company at the concert.[39]
The immediate post-Bing era saw a continuing addition of African-Americans to the roster of leading artists. Kathleen Battle, who in 1977 made her Met debut as the Shepherd in Wagner's Tannhäuser, became an important star in lyric soprano roles. Bass-baritone Simon Estes began a prominent Met career with his 1982 debut as Hermann, also in Tannhäuser.
Joseph Volpe
The model of General Manager as the leading authority in the company returned in 1990 when the company appointed Joseph Volpe. He was the Met's third-longest serving manager, and was the first head of the Met to advance from within the ranks of the company after having started his career there as a carpenter in 1964.[40] During his tenure the Met's international touring activities were expanded and Levine focused on expanding and building the Met's orchestra into a world-class symphonic ensemble with its own Carnegie Hall concert series. Under Volpe the Met considerably expanded its repertory, offering four world premiers and 22 Met premiers, more new works than under any manager since Gatti-Casazza.[41] Volpe chose Valery Gergiev, who was then the chief conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, as Principal Guest Conductor in 1997 and broadened the Met's Russian repertory. Marcelo Álvarez, Gabriela Beňačková, Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Marcello Giordani, Angela Gheorghiu, Susan Graham, Ben Heppner, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Salvatore Licitra, Anna Netrebko, René Pape, Neil Rosenshein, Bryn Terfel, and Deborah Voigt were among the artists first heard at the Met under his management. He retired as general manager in 2006.
Peter Gelb
Joseph Volpe's post was given to Peter Gelb, formerly a record producer. Gelb began outlining his plans in April 2006; these included more new productions each year, ideas for shaving staging costs, and attracting new audiences without deterring existing opera-lovers. Gelb saw these issues as crucial for an organization which is dependent on private financing.
Gelb began his tenure by opening the 2006–07 season with a production of Madama Butterfly by the English director Anthony Minghella originally staged for English National Opera. Minghella's highly theatrical concept featured vividly colored banners on a spare stage, allowing the focus to be on the detailed acting of the singers. The abstract concept included casting the son of Cio-Cio San as a bunraku-style puppet, operated in plain sight by three puppeteers clothed in black.[42]
Gelb focused on expanding the Met's audience through a number of fronts. Increasing the number of new productions every season to keep the Met's stagings fresh and noteworthy, Gelb partnered with other opera companies to import productions and engaged directors from theater, circus, and film to produce the Met's own original productions. Theater directors Bartlett Sher, Mary Zimmerman, and Jack O'Brien joined the list of the Met's directors along with Stephen Wadsworth, Willy Decker, Laurent Pelly, Luc Bondy and other opera directors to create new stagings for the company. Robert Lepage, the Canadian director of Cirque du Soleil, was engaged by the Met to direct a revival of Der Ring des Nibelungen using hydraulic stage platforms and projected 3D imagery.
To further engage new audiences Gelb initiated live high-definition video transmissions to cinemas worldwide, and regular live satellite radio broadcasts on the Met's own SiriusXM radio channel.
New stars that emerged during Gelb's tenure include Piotr Beczała, Lawrence Brownlee, Joseph Calleja, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, Mariusz Kwiecień. Debuting conductors included Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andris Nelsons, and Fabio Luisi. Luisi was named Principal Guest Conductor in 2010 and Principal Conductor in 2011, filling a void created by James Levine's two-year absence due to illness. In 2013, following the severance of the dancers' contracts, Gelb announced that the resident ballet company at the Met would cease to exist.[43]
In 2014, Gelb and the Met found new controversy[44] with a production of John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer,[45] due to criticism that the work was antisemitic.[46] In response to the controversy Gelb canceled the scheduled worldwide HD video presentation of a performance, but refused demands to cancel the live performances scheduled for October and November 2014.[47] Demonstrators held signs and chanted "Shame on Gelb".[48]
On April 14, 2016, the company announced the conclusion of James Levine's tenure as music director at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season.[49] Gelb announced that Levine would also become Music Director Emeritus.[50] On June 2, the Met board announced the appointment of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who was then the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, as the company's next music director, as of the 2020–2021 season, conducting five productions each season. He took the title of music director-designate, conducting two productions a year, as of the 2017–2018 season.[51] In February 2018, Nézet-Séguin succeeded Levine as music director of the Metropolitan Opera.[52]
James Levine controversy
In response to a December 2017 news article, the Met announced that it would investigate James Levine with regard to sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1980s, suspended its ties with Levine, and canceled all upcoming engagements with him.[53][54] Gelb had been contacted directly by a police detective in October 2016 about allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by Levine, had been aware of the accuser's abuse allegations since they were made in a 2016 police report and of the attendant police investigation, but did not suspend Levine or launch an investigation until over a year later.[55][56][57][58]
Following the investigations in March 2018, the Met stated that there was conclusive evidence for "sexually abusive and harassing conduct" by Levine. On March 12, 2018, the company announced the full termination of its relationship with Levine, including the rescinding of his title of music director emeritus and dismissal of him as artistic director of its young artists program.[59] On March 15, 2018, Levine filed suit against the company with the New York State Supreme Court, for breach of contract and defamation, and continued to deny the allegations.[60] In response to the suit, the company has stated:[61] "It is shocking that Mr. Levine has refused to accept responsibility for his actions, and has today instead decided to lash out at the Met with a suit riddled with untruths." On August 7, 2019, The New York Times reported that the Metropolitan Opera and Levine both privately settled their lawsuits. Continuing with the lawsuits "could have put into the public record more details of accusations..."[62]
Los músicos de la orquesta MET
In 2015, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Committee formed a separate 501(c)3 organization which does business as 'MET Orchestra Musicians'.[63] When the Metropolitan Opera furloughed its orchestra on April 1, 2020,[64] the orchestra used this organization to fundraise with a goal to give out needs-based grants to its members, associates, music librarians and assistant conductors affiliated with The Metropolitan Opera.[65] As of October 19, 2020, 30% of the orchestra has been forced to move out of New York City due to not being able to afford living costs.[66]
Innovaciones tecnológicas
Met Titles
In 1995, under general manager Joseph Volpe, the Met installed its own system of presenting a scripted version of opera texts designed for the particular needs of the Met and its audiences.[67] Called "Met Titles", the $2.7 million system provides the audience with a script of the opera's text in English on individual screens which face each seat. This system was the first in the world to be placed in an opera house with "each screen (having) a switch to turn it on, a privacy filter to prevent the dim, yellow dot-matrix characters from disturbing nearby viewers and the option to display texts in multiple languages for all productions, (currently German and Spanish) except two by Philip Glass[citation needed]. The custom-designed system features rails of different heights for various sections of the house, individually designed displays for some box seats and commissioned scripts costing up to $8,000 apiece."[68] Owing to the height of the Met's proscenium, it was not feasible to have surtitles displayed above the stage, as is done in most other opera houses. The idea of above-stage titles had been vehemently opposed by then music director James Levine, but the "Met Titles" system has since been acknowledged as an ideal solution, offering texts to only those members of the Met audience who desire them.[69] Surtitlers at the Met have included Sonya Haddad, whose 2004 obituary called her "one of the country's leading practitioners of her art",[70] Cori Ellison[67] and Sonya Friedman.
Tessitura software
In 1998, Volpe initiated the development of a new software application, now called Tessitura. Tessitura uses a single database of information to record, track and manage all contacts with the Met's constituents, conduct targeted marketing and fund raising appeals, handle all ticketing and membership transactions, and provide detailed and flexible performance reports. Beginning in 2000, Tessitura was offered to other arts organizations under license, and it is now used by a cooperative network of more than 200 opera companies, symphony orchestras, ballet companies, theater companies, performing arts centers, and museums in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.[71] At the Opera Conference 2016 in Montreal Gelb announced that the Met had commissioned a new ticketing system that would be made available to other institutions.[72]
Multimedia
Broadcast radio
Outside of New York the Met has been known to audiences in large measure through its many years of live radio broadcasts. The Met's broadcast history goes back to January 1910 when radio pioneer Lee de Forest broadcast experimentally, with erratic signal, two live performances from the stage of the Met that were reportedly heard as far away as Newark, New Jersey. Today the annual Met broadcast season typically begins the first week of December and offers twenty live Saturday matinée performances through May.
The first network broadcast was heard on December 25, 1931, a performance of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. The series came about as the Met, financially endangered in the early years of the Great Depression, sought to enlarge its audience and support through national exposure on network radio. Initially, those broadcasts featured only parts of operas, being limited to selected acts. Regular broadcasts of complete operas began March 11, 1933, with the transmission of Tristan und Isolde with Frida Leider and Lauritz Melchior.
The live broadcasts were originally heard on NBC Radio's Blue Network and continued on the Blue Network's successor, ABC, into the 1960s. As network radio waned, the Met founded its own Metropolitan Opera Radio Network which is now heard on radio stations around the world. In Canada the live broadcasts have been heard since December 1933 first on the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission[73] and, since 1934, on its successor, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation where they are currently heard on CBC Music.
Technical quality of the broadcasts steadily improved over the years. FM broadcasts were added in the 1950s, transmitted to stations via telephone lines. Starting with the 1973–74 season, all broadcasts were offered in FM stereo. Satellite technology later allowed uniformly excellent broadcast sound to be sent live worldwide.
Sponsorship of the Met broadcasts during the Depression years of the 1930s was sporadic. Early sponsors included the American Tobacco Company, and the Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, but frequently the broadcasts were presented by NBC itself with no commercial sponsor.[74] Sponsorship of the Saturday afternoon broadcasts by The Texas Company (Texaco) began on December 7, 1940, with Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Texaco's support continued for 63 years, the longest continuous sponsorship in broadcast history and included the first PBS television broadcasts. After its merger with Chevron, however, the combined company ChevronTexaco ended its sponsorship of the Met's radio network in April 2004. Emergency grants allowed the broadcasts to continue through 2005 when the home building company Toll Brothers became primary sponsor.
In the seven decades of its Saturday broadcasts, the Met has been introduced by the voices of only four permanent announcers. Milton Cross served from the inaugural 1931 broadcast until his death in 1975. He was succeeded by Peter Allen, who served for 29 years, through the 2003–04 season. Margaret Juntwait began her tenure as host the following season. From September 2006 through December 2014, Juntwait also served as host for all of the live and recorded broadcasts on the Met's Sirius XM satellite radio channel, Metropolitan Opera Radio.[75] Beginning in January 2015, producer Mary Jo Heath filled in for Juntwait, who was being treated for cancer and died in June 2015.[75] In September 2015 Heath took over as the new permanent host. Opera singer and director Ira Siff has for several years been the commentator along with Juntwait or Heath.
Satellite radio
Metropolitan Opera Radio is a 24-hour opera channel on Sirius XM Radio, which presents three to four live opera broadcasts each week during the Met's performing season. During other hours it also offers past broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast archives. The channel was created in September 2006, when the Met initiated a multi-year relationship with Sirius.[76] Margaret Juntwait is the main host and announcer, with William Berger as writer and co-host.[77]
Television
The Met's experiments with television go back to 1948 when a complete performance of Verdi's Otello was broadcast live on ABC-TV with Ramón Vinay, Licia Albanese, and Leonard Warren. The 1949 season opening night Der Rosenkavalier was also telecast. In the early 1950s the Met tried a short-lived experiment with live closed-circuit television transmissions to movie theaters. The first of these was a performance of Carmen with Risë Stevens which was sent to 31 theaters in 27 US cities on December 11, 1952. Beyond these experiments, however, and an occasional gala or special, the Met did not become a regular presence on television until 1977.
In that year the company began a series of live television broadcasts on public television with a wildly successful live telecast of La bohème with Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti. The new series of opera on PBS was called Live from the Metropolitan Opera. This series remained on the air until the early 2000s, although the live broadcasts gave way to taped performances and in 1988 the title was changed to The Metropolitan Opera Presents. Dozens of televised performances were broadcast during the life of the series including an historic complete telecast of Wagner's Ring Cycle in 1989. In 2007 another Met television series debuted on PBS, Great Performances at the Met. This series airs repeat showings of the high-definition video performances produced for the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD cinema series.
In addition to complete operas and gala concerts, television programs produced at the Met have included: an episode of Omnibus with Leonard Bernstein (NBC, 1958); Danny Kaye's Look-In at the Metropolitan Opera (CBS, 1975); Sills and Burnett at the Met (CBS, 1976); and the MTV Video Music Awards (1999 and 2001).
High-definition video
Beginning on December 30, 2006, as part of the company's effort to build revenues and attract new audiences, the Met (along with NCM Fathom)[78] broadcast a series of six performances live via satellite into movie theaters called "Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD".[79] The first broadcast was the Saturday matinee live performance of the 110-minute version of Julie Taymor's production of The Magic Flute.[80] The series was carried in over 100 movie theaters across North America, Japan, Britain and several other European countries.[81] During the 2006–07 season, the series included live HD transmissions of I puritani, The First Emperor, Eugene Onegin, The Barber of Seville, and Il trittico. In addition, limited repeat showings of the operas were offered in most of the presenting cities. Digital sound for the performances was provided by Sirius Satellite Radio.
These movie transmissions have received wide and generally favorable press coverage.[82] The Met reports that 91% of available seats were sold for the HD performances.[83] According to General Manager Peter Gelb, there were 60,000 people in cinemas around the world watching the March 24 transmission of The Barber of Seville.[Note 4] The New York Times reported that 324,000 tickets were sold worldwide for the 2006/07 season, while each simulcast cost $850,000 to $1 million to produce.[84]
The 2007/08 season began on December 15, 2007, and featured eight of the Met's productions starting with Roméo et Juliette and ending with La fille du régiment on April 26, 2008.[85] The Met planned to broadcast to double the number of theaters in the US as the previous season, as well as to additional countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The number of participating venues in the US, which includes movie theatre chains as well as independent theatres and some college campus venues, is 343.[84][86] While "the scope of the series expands to include more than 700 locations across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia".[87][88]
By the end of the season 920,000 people—exceeding the total number of people who attended live performances at the Met over the entire season—attended the 8 screenings bringing in a gross of $13.3 million from North America and $5 million from overseas.[89]
Internet
Year-round, online video and audio of hundreds of complete operas and excerpts are available to viewers via Met Player, the Met Opera's own online archive of recorded performances.[90] Complete operas and selections are also available on the online music service Rhapsody, and for purchase on iTunes.[91]
The Metropolitan Opera Radio channel on Sirius XM Radio (see above) is available to listeners via the internet in addition to satellite broadcast.
The Met's official site also provides complete composer and background information, detailed plot summaries, and cast and characters for all current and upcoming opera broadcasts, as well as for every opera broadcast since 2000.[92] The Met's online archive database provides links to all Rhapsody, Sirius XM, and Met Player operas, with complete program and cast information. The online archive also provides an exhaustive searchable list of every performance and performer in the Metropolitan Opera's history.[93]
During COVID-19 pandemic
When people's movements were heavily restricted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Met cancelled the season's remaining performances but live streamed free of charge an opera every day, normally available on paid subscription.[94] On September 23, 2020, the Met announced the cancellation of its entire 2020–2021 season.[95]
Teatros de ópera
Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway
The first Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22, 1883, with a performance of Faust.[7] It was located at 1411 Broadway between 39th and 40th Streets and was designed by J. Cleaveland Cady. Gutted by fire on August 27, 1892, the theater was immediately rebuilt, reopening in the fall of 1893. Another major renovation was completed in 1903. The theater's interior was extensively redesigned by the architects Carrère and Hastings. The familiar red and gold interior associated with the house dates from this time. The old Met had a seating capacity of 3,625 with an additional 224 standing room places.
The theater was noted for its elegance and excellent acoustics and it provided a glamorous home for the company. Its stage facilities, however, were found to be severely inadequate from its earliest days. Over the years many plans for a new opera house were explored and abandoned, including a proposal to incorporate a new Metropolitan Opera House into the construction of Rockefeller Center. It was only with the development of Lincoln Center that the Met was able to build itself a new home. The Met held a lavish farewell gala performance for the old house on April 16, 1966. The theater closed after a short season of ballet later in the spring of 1966 and was demolished in 1967.
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
The present Metropolitan Opera House is located in Lincoln Center at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side and was designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison. It has a seating capacity of approximately 3,732 with an additional 245 standing room places at the rear of the main floor and the top balcony.[96] As needed, the size of the orchestra pit can be decreased and another row of 35 seats added at the front of the auditorium. The lobby is adorned with two famous murals by Marc Chagall, The Triumph of Music and The Sources of Music. Each of these gigantic paintings measures 30 by 36 feet.
After numerous revisions to its design, the new building opened September 16, 1966, with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra.
The theater, while large, is noted for its excellent acoustics. The stage facilities, state of the art when the theater was built, continue to be updated technically and are capable of handling multiple large complex opera productions simultaneously. When the opera company is on hiatus, the Opera House is annually home to the spring season of American Ballet Theatre. It has also hosted visits from other noted opera and ballet companies.
Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia
To provide a home for its regular Tuesday night performances in Philadelphia, the Met purchased an opera house originally built in 1908 by Oscar Hammerstein I, the Philadelphia Opera House at North Broad and Poplar Streets.[97] Renamed the Metropolitan Opera House, the theater was operated by the Met from 1910 until it sold the house in April 1920.[98] The Met debuted at its new Philadelphia home on December 13, 1910, with a performance of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser starring Leo Slezak and Olive Fremstad.[99]
The Philadelphia Met was designed by noted theater architect William H. McElfatrick and had a seating capacity of approximately 4,000. The theater still stands and currently functions as a church and community arts center.
Conductores principales
In the Met's inaugural season of 1883–1884, Auguste Vianesi, who conducted most of the performances that season including the opening night, was listed in the playbills as "Musical Director and Conductor"; thereafter, the Met did not have another officially designated "music director" until Rafael Kubelík in 1973. However, a number of the Met's conductors have assumed a strong leadership role at different times in the company's history. They set artistic standards and influenced the quality and performance style of the orchestra, but without any official title. The Met has also had many famed guest conductors who are not listed here.
- Anton Seidl (1885–97)
- Walter Damrosch (1884–1902)
- Alfred Hertz (1902–15, leading conductor of German repertory)
- Gustav Mahler (1908–10)
- Arturo Toscanini (1908–15)
- Artur Bodanzky (1915–39, leading conductor of German repertory)
- Tullio Serafin (1924–34)
- Fausto Cleva (1931–71)
- Bruno Walter (1941–51, 1956, 1959)
- Ettore Panizza (1934–42, leading conductor of Italian repertory)
- Erich Leinsdorf (1938–42, leading conductor of German repertory)
- George Szell (1942–46)
- Cesare Sodero (1942–47)
- Fritz Busch (1945–49)
- Fritz Reiner (1949–53)
- Dimitri Mitropoulos (1954–60)
- Erich Leinsdorf (1957–62)
- Kurt Adler (1943–73, chorus master and conductor)
- Rafael Kubelík (music director 1973–74)
- James Levine (music director 1976–2016; artistic director 1986–2004; music director emeritus 2016–2017)
- Valery Gergiev (principal guest conductor 1997–2008)
- Fabio Luisi (principal guest conductor 2010–2011; principal conductor 2011–2017)
- Yannick Nézet-Séguin (music director 2018–)[100]
Muertes en el Met
Over the years, a number of deaths have occurred at the Metropolitan Opera House. On February 10, 1897, French bass Armand Castelmary suffered a heart attack onstage in the finale of act one of Flotow's Martha. He died in the arms of his friend, tenor Jean de Reszke, after the curtain was brought down. The performance resumed with Giuseppe Cernusco substituting in the role of Sir Tristram.[101] On May 10, 1935, Herbert Witherspoon, the incoming General Manager suffered a heart attack and died at his desk.[28][29][30] On March 4, 1960, leading baritone Leonard Warren died of a heart attack onstage after completing the aria "Urna fatale" in act two of Verdi's La forza del destino.[102] On April 30, 1977, Betty Stone, a member of the Met chorus, was killed in an accident offstage during a tour performance of Il trovatore in Cleveland.[103] On July 23, 1980, Helen Hagnes Mintiks, a 30-year-old Canadian-born violinist,[104] was murdered by Met stagehand Craig Crimmins during the intermission of a performance of the Berlin Ballet. The event was cited by numerous publications as "The Phantom of the Opera" murder.[105][106][107][108] On January 5, 1996, tenor Richard Versalle died while playing the role of Vitek during the production of Leoš Janáček's The Makropulos Case. Versalle was climbing a 20-foot (6.1 m) ladder in the opening scene when he suffered a heart attack and fell to the stage.[109]
In addition, several audience members have died at the Met. The most widely known incident was the suicide of operagoer Bantcho Bantchevsky on January 23, 1988, during an intermission of Verdi's Macbeth.[110][111]
Finanzas y marketing
The company's annual operating budget for the 2011–12 season was $325 million, of which $182 million (43%) comes from private donations. The total potential audience across a season is 800,000 seats. The average audience rate for the 3800-seat theater in 2011 was 79.2%, down from a peak of 88% in 2009.[112] Beyond performing in the opera house in New York, the Met has gradually expanded its audience over the years through technology. It has broadcast regularly on radio since 1931 and on television since 1977. In 2006, the Met began live satellite radio and internet broadcasts as well as live high-definition video transmissions presented in cinemas throughout the world. In 2011, the total HD audience reached 3 million through 1600 theaters worldwide.[112] In 2014, according to Wheeler Winston Dixon, high ticket prices are making it difficult for average people to attend performances.[113]
Notas
- ^ The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is also nicknamed "the Met".
- ^ While many of the cylinders became greatly worn over the years, some remain comparatively clear, particularly those of the waltz and "Soldier's Chorus" from Faust and the triumphal scene from Act 2 of Aida. Mapleson placed his machine in various locations, including the prompter's box, the side of the stage, and in the "flies", which enabled him to record the singers and musicians, as well as the audience's applause.[citation needed] Many of the original cylinders are preserved in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- ^ See more on the national broadcasts in the Broadcast radio section below
- ^ Gelb, speaking during the intermission on March 24, 2007, noted that over 250 movie theatres were presenting the performance that day.
Referencias
- ^ a b "Our Story". metopera.org. Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ "The Met's 2015-16 Season Will Feature 227 Performances of 25 Operas, Including Six New Productions" (Press release). Metropolitan Opera. February 18, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ a b c Thiemann Sommer, Susan (2002). "New York (opera)". Oxford Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005554. (subscription required)
- ^ Gray, Christopher (April 23, 1995). "Streetscapes/The old Metropolitan Opera House; Why Mimi No Longer Dies at Broadway and 39th". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "What's New York the Capital of Now?". The New York Times. November 20, 1994. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ The New Opera-House; Formal Organization of the Company – The Officers Elected, The New York Times, April 29, 1880, Subscription required.
- ^ a b "Opening Night: Faust, October 22, 1883". Met Opera Family. Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
- ^ "The Italian Opera Season". New-York Tribune. Library of Congress. October 23, 1883. p. 5. ISSN 1941-0646. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Metropolitan Opera Association". archives.metoperafamily.org. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Albrecht, Otto E.; Galván, Gary; Davis-Millis, Nina (2014). "Philadelphia". Oxford Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2257829.
- ^ Ord-Hume, Arthur W.J.G.; Weber, Jerome F.; Borwick, John; Shorter, D.E.L. (2001). "Recorded Sound". Oxford Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26294.
- ^ "About This Program". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "The Mapleson Cylinders". New York Public Library. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Metropolitan Opera to end National Tours". Los Angeles Times. June 22, 1985. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Obituary: John B. Schoeffel Dies in Boston at 72". The New York Times. September 1, 1918. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ a b Untitled obituary: The New York Times, March 15, 1907
- ^ "Death of Henry E. Abbey". The New York Times. October 18, 1896. p. 25. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Kahn Resigns Posts As Opera Executive: Paul D. Cravath Succeeds Him". The New York Times. October 27, 1931. p. 27.
- ^ "Cravath Hails Day of New Opera Ideal". The New York Times. October 29, 1931. p. 25.
- ^ Balfour, Alan (1978). Rockefeller Center: Architecture as Theater. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-07003-480-8.
- ^ "Rockefeller Site For Opera Dropped" (PDF). The New York Times. December 6, 1929. Retrieved November 10, 2017.[dead link]
- ^ "Future of the Opera Comes Up Tomorrow". The New York Times. March 22, 1932. p. 23.
- ^ Dunlap, Orrin K. (January 10, 1932). "Captured for the Multitudes: Broadcasting Reveals Opera Is Not "High Hat"—Those Who Predicted Its "Death" May Find Radio a Tonic as Have Other Arts". The New York Times. p. XX7.
- ^ a b Fiedler, Johanna (September 9, 2003). Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera. Knopf Doubleday. pp. 39–41. ISBN 978-1-4000-7589-8.
- ^ "Control of Opera to be Reorganized: New Metropolitan Company Is Planned, to Give Productions Under New Contracts". The New York Times. March 4, 1932. p. 1.
- ^ "Opera Denies Plan to Quit Old Home; Withdrawal of Boxholders' Support Feared in Move to Rockefeller Center". The New York Times. February 11, 1933. p. 11.
- ^ "Opera Board Lays Plans for Future". The New York Times. December 7, 1933. p. 27. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ a b "Witherspoon, Opera Leader, Dies in Office". Chicago Tribune. May 11, 1935. Retrieved January 7, 2020.(subscription required)
- ^ a b "Witherspoon Dies in Office at Opera on Eve of Sailing. New Manager of Metropolitan Is Victim of Sudden Heart Attack After Day's Work". The New York Times. May 11, 1935. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ a b "Death in the Met". Time. May 20, 1935. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
- ^ "New production Turandot {28} Metropolitan Opera House: February 24, 1961". MetOpera Database. Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ "Biggest Opera Hit in 10 years". Life. May 5, 1961. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Martin Bernheimer (August 2006). "The Not-So-Grand Tour". Opera News. 71 (2). pp. 40–45.
- ^ "Remembering the Old Metropolitan Opera House". Operavore. WQXR. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
- ^ "Highlights of the 1966–67 Season". The Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Kozinn, Allan (January 13, 1992). "Critic's Notebook; Why Met's 'Ghosts' Will Be Disembodied Until 1994-95 Season". The New York Times. p. C11. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Cohn, Fred (July 2015). "Pacific Overtures". Opera News. 80 (1).
- ^ "Renata Tebaldi, Soprano". The Scotsman.
- ^ "Texaco Celebrates the Metropolitan Opera Centennial". New York: 50. October 17, 1983. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ Mattison, Ben (May 20, 2006). "Metropolitan Opera Salutes Joe Volpe at Gala Concert". Playbill. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ^ "Joseph Volpe's Crowning Achievements As General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera – Opera Wire". operawire.com. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ^ Tommasini, Anthony, "The Tragedy of Butterfly, With Striking Cinematic Touches", The New York Times, September 27, 2006.
- ^ Kozinn, Allan (May 20, 2013). "Met Opera Dismantles Its Ballet in Buyouts". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ Ross, Alex (June 24, 2014). "The Met's Klinghoffer Problem". The New Yorker.
- ^ "The Death of Klinghoffer Tickets". Metropolitan Opera. Archived from the original on August 25, 2014.
- ^ Kozinn, Allan (September 11, 1991). "Klinghoffer Daughters Protest Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ^ Edgers, Geoff (October 16, 2014). "The Met, the opera on the murder of Leon Klinghoffer and the politics of protest". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ Zeitchik, Steven. "'Death of Klinghoffer' goes on at Met Opera House despite protests". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "James Levine, Transformative at the Met Opera, Is Stepping Down". The New York Times. April 15, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Jennifer (April 14, 2016). "Met Opera Maestro James Levine To Step Down". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Smith, Jennifer (June 2, 2016). "Met Opera Names Yannick Nézet-Séguin as New Music Director". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ Michael Cooper (February 15, 2018). "Yannick Nézet-Séguin Will Lead the Met Opera, Two Years Early". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ Cooper, Michael (December 2, 2017). "Met Opera to Investigate James Levine Over Sexual Abuse Accusation". The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ Cooper, Michael (December 3, 2017). "Met Opera Suspends James Levine After New Sexual Abuse Accusations". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- ^ Midgette, Anne (December 3, 2017). "Metropolitan Opera suspends James Levine over sexual abuse allegations". The Washington Post.
- ^ Vincent, Isabel; Klein, Melissa (December 2, 2017). "Legendary opera conductor molested teen for years: police report". New York Post.
- ^ Cooper, Michael (December 3, 2017). "Met Opera Reels as Fourth Man Accuses James Levine of Sexual Abuse". The New York Times.
- ^ Hensley, Nicole; Brown, Stephen Rex (December 4, 2017). "Met Opera suspends James Levine after sex abuse claims dating back to 1960s". New York Daily News.
- ^ Michael Cooper (March 12, 2018). "James Levine's Final Act at the Met Ends in Disgrace". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
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Otras lecturas
- Krehbiel, Henry Edward (1911). Chapters of Opera. Project Gutenberg.
- Meyer, Martin (1983). The Met: One Hundred Years of Grand Opera. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-47087-6.
- Robinson, Francis (1979). Celebration: The Metropolitan Opera. New York City: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12975-0.
- Wasserman, Adam (December 2006). "Sirius Business". Opera News.
enlaces externos
- Official website
- Metropolitan Opera Association
- History of Metropolitan Opera Association
- Vintage postcards of the Met
- Metropolitan Opera History
- Met Opera Radio on Sirius XM
- The Metropolitan Opera at Google Arts & Culture
- "The New Stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, Rebuilt for the Production of Parsifal" Scientific American (1904).