erwartung
Today’s NYT includes an overview of the kvetchfest that was yesterday’s first day of subscription ticket exchanges at the Met. La Cieca thinks it’s just so quaint that every public event in New York eventually degenerates into threats of coup d’état (“I was thinking of figuring out a way to organize this group to take action against Peter Gelb“). To be sure, the firebrand uttering these Dantonesque words was only of the Upper West Side by association, since she actually came in for the day from her native Philly.
Anyway, let no one say that La Cieca ignores the plight of the downtrodden and disenfranchised. Your doyenne is soliciting stories from those who managed to survive yesterday’s Queue of Tears.
Our first respondent writes:
Four different Met officials – with name tags and Met symbols around their necks – who walked around to assist the crowd, made – individually – the following four different statements:
1. New productions are not available for exchange.
2. New productions are not available for exchange and there are certain “exchange black-out dates”.
3. Four of the new productions are not available for exchange
4. New productions are available for exchange [but]Â only if a ticket for another new production is offered as a trade-in.
When I got to the box office after 5 hours and 5 minutes of waiting on line, none of the the above statements (policies?) were adhered to; I got everything I wanted.
do we have a clear understanding of what the no-exchanges-for-new-productions policy actually is?
i exchanged dates on two new productions, and exchanged *into* two new productions (from some old war horses), so i am assuming that the restriction is only on exchanging *out* of a new production? but has the met explicitly stated that anywhere — preferably in writing?
the new york times article on tuesday regarding the subscriber exchanges was most peculiar. pls note that the “let them eat cake” comments supposedly by peter gelb were paraphrased in a paragraph which preceded the actual “quotations” contained in the article. the only quotation marks in that paragraph surround the phrase “instant exchanges.” i would not be surprised if a transcript revealed a more nuanced statement from gelb, as i think he has shown that he is too clever to be caught speaking from such a great height. there is also a great deal of attention given to statements from people on the line regarding the current exchange policies which proved not to be true, by the experience of other exchangers.
instant exchanges have in fact been available for more than just last season. it is true that most arts organizations are membership oriented. membership in the patron program, the guild, and subscription, which is a form of membership, has its privileges. theophile gautier was said to have stated that music is the costliest of all noises, and this applies double to the opera. ticket revenue covers appoximately half of the cost of raising the met curtain. new productions are part of the expense, but are often paid for by special grants from individuals.
the met has one product, and sells access in the form of tickets, at prices that are probably the maximum the market will bear. (the met also sells better seats at higher prices, and sells access to those better seats in the form of membership). where to get the rest is the question. and we are not speaking of a sum which could be lowered by economy measures, as most of the cost of putting on the opera pays for the people who sing, play the instruments, build and manipulate the sets, raise the curtain, etc. hence the emphasis on membership and fundraising. perhaps the most significant effort to address this dilemma is the gelb focus on marketing the opera through other venues, while at the same time insuring that the live performances, which after all are the basis of it all, continue to be of a value which makes the alternative marketing possible.
i recommend to all those who plan on documenting the netrebko deficiencies in Lucia that they listen to one or two of the lily pons broadcasts, which may cure them of the opera-isn’t what it used to be conviction. there will be routine performances at the met this year, and there will be magnificent perfomances. it has always been thus in my experience there, which goes back to the last season in the old house for attendance, and much further back for archival performances. there will be as ever singers who will inspire enthusiasm, and those who will inspire the disdain of cognoscenti. let us remember that sacred things sometimes take place in the auditorium, and let us be more tolerant of the all too human actions which surround the devotions, as it is the same in all churches.
i beg your pardon, dear cieca, but i most certainly did not scream. measured tones would better describe these musings.